Entertainment
Dame Dash Recalls What Drove Early Success for Ye: ‘He Could Fail & Make It a Learning Experience’
Ye’s struggles for acceptance as a rapper are well documented in the early stages of his career. Dame Dash admitted he originally signed the artist formerly known as Kanye West to Roc-A-Fella for his prowess as a producer, but the Chicago native had much grander aspirations.
Dash joined the TFU Podcast on Tuesday (March 3), where he recalled Ye’s status within the Roc-A-Fella army in the early 2000s, doubting his rapping ability and the mentality that allowed Yeezy to break through and become a full-blown A-list superstar.
“I didn’t necessarily think he was so talented like that. I didn’t think he could rap, I thought he made good beats. He had good beats, but he showed up,” he explained. “For example, ‘We Are the Champions‘ was the record that kind of broke him and I produced that with him.”
Dame continued: “I was giving that sample to Just Blaze. Had Just Blaze done what I asked him to do and given me the respect, that might have been a Just Blaze big record for him. It was the first time Queen cleared the sample. Just Blaze didn’t do it, so after a while I said, ‘Kanye, you do it.’ He did it that day and reaped the benefits of it.”
It wasn’t until West broke his jaw in a 2002 car accident that Dame thought Ye could be special — West remained gung ho in his pursuit of greatness even with a wired jaw. “I saw that he was still proactive and turned something that could’ve put him out of business [into] something that put him into business,” Dame said. “I’m more into a person’s hustle and respect.”
“He’s not a quitter. He could fail and make it a learning experience — which he did in fashion — and that he was fearless,” the Roc-A-Fella cofounder added. “Kanye won because of his hustle and the fact [that] he went and did other verticals and he’s also polarizing.”
West turned his tragedy into triumph with the No. 15 Billboard Hot 100 hit “Through the Wire” and cemented his superstar status with his debut album, The College Dropout, in 2004, which arrived at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The set contained anthems such as the Hot 100-topping “Slow Jamz,” as well as “All Falls Down” and “Jesus Walks.”
In the years since, Ye’s decorated résumé includes earning 11 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, five No. 1 hits on the Hot 100 and 24 Grammy Awards. However, has star has dimmed considerably since he began spewing antisemitic hate speech in recent years, which led to the loss of many of his brand deals. He has since apologized several times for his remarks, with the most recent apology coming in January 2026, during which he claimed that a brain injury led to his “reckless behavior.”
Watch the clip of Dame Dash talking about Ye below:
Entertainment
Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar Tell a Hood Love Story in ‘Good Flirts’ Video Featuring Momo Boyd
Hours after previewing the “Good Flirts” visual at a surprise NYC show, Baby Keem released the music video to his Kendrick Lamar and Momo Boyd-assisted collaboration on Thursday (March 5).
Keem has to be a Grand Theft Auto fan, as he references a GTA V campaign mission featuring Franklin and Lamar flaming one another with the opening scene of the “Good Flirts” video.
Directed by Renell Medrano, the 25-year-old rapper finds himself in various social settings, flirting with a potential love interest, which takes Keem from the ice cream parlor to riding the bus and eating at a Chinese restaurant with different women.
Draped in all-black and a leather jacket, the scene pivots to a barren church room with Kendrick Lamar surrounded by a hanging cross and a water fountain. K. Dot’s hood love story takes him to the basketball courts, where he delivers his soulful assist.
The visual seemed to be celebrated by fans. “pgLang shoot these videos like a HBO drama. Greatness,” one person wrote in the YouTube comments while lending their stamp of approval.
Another added: “This video is full of so much dark skins it’s too beautiful. Wow. Celebrating us has always been sweet.”
Keem performed a pop-up show at New York City’s Webster Hall on Wednesday (March 4), where he previewed a teaser of the “Good Flirts” video. The Las Vegas native is set to hit the road for the Ca$ino Tour in April, with the North American trek kicking off in North Carolina.
Ca$ino arrived on Feb. 20 and debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 with 72,000 total album units earned, according to Luminate. “Good Flirts” notched the highest Billboard Hot 100 entry from the album, debuting at No. 34.
Watch the “Good Flirts” video below.
Entertainment
Charlie Puth Has ‘Anxiety Attack’ on ‘Hot Ones,’ Explains Why National Anthem Is ‘Most Difficult’ Song Ever
What’s more difficult: singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” in front of millions or appearing on Hot Ones? Charlie Puth — who performed the song at the 2026 Super Bowl — still isn’t sure.
While guesting on the episode of the show posted Thursday (March 5), the singer-songwriter barely made it through host Sean Evans’ ultra-hot wings while answering questions, one of which was about Puth’s past classification of the United States’ national anthem as the most difficult song to perform of all time.
“It’s constant tension and release,” the hitmaker told Evans of the anthem penned by Francis Scott Key. “Listen to it. It’s constant tension and release. It’s major chord, minor chord. And I don’t know, it just has a melody that soars and when you put it in 4/4 timing, it’s just good.”
Earlier in the video — before the wing-eating commenced — Puth had confessed, “I haven’t been this nervous since the Super Bowl, I’m going to be honest.” That’s saying something, as the Big Game — which is watched by tens of millions of people yearly — is famously one of the most high-stakes gigs a performing artist can snag.
Puth performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Feb. 8 before the Seattle Seahawks faced off against the New England Patriots, winning 29-13. He was one of a few artists involved in the pre-game show, with Brandi Carlile performing “America, the Beautiful,” Coco Jones singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and Green Day delivering a medley of the Bay Area band’s hits.
On X after his high-pressure performance of the anthem, Puth revealed that he’d specifically used it as an opportunity to pay tribute to another New Jersey native. “I wrote the arrangement in a very specific way to honor Whitney Houston,” he posted at the time. “I hope that was heard.”
Elsewhere on Hot Ones, Puth — who was recently named chief music officer of AI company Moises — had a progressively more difficult time chewing, burping and spitting his way through the spicy wings, at one point saying he was on the verge of an “anxiety attack” and discussing his love of SpongeBob SquarePants. He also shared his thoughts about the future of pop music.
“I like the fact on a logistical standpoint, that there’s no longer people telling you what song you have to sing in order to get played on this radio station, or to get played on Spotify,” the producer told Evans. “It’s just best song wins, which is what I’ve always wanted. I love artists like sombr, who are putting a lot of reverb on their vocals. And I do think pop music, in my opinion, will expand because of hip-hop. It’s always expanded because of hip-hop. Katy Perry, “Dark Horse,” would not be here without Juicy J, Three 6 Mafia and Memphis, Tenn.”
Watch Puth struggle to endure the Hot Ones challenge above.
Entertainment
Billboard to Add WARM Global Dance Radio Ranking to Its Chart Menu
Billboard is expanding its dance chart portfolio with the inclusion of the WARM Global Dance Radio Chart, developed in partnership with World Airplay Radio Monitor.
The chart will debut on billboard.com Tuesday, March 10, joining Billboard’s long-standing U.S.-based rankings, including Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Dance/Pop Songs, Dance/Mix Show Airplay and Top Dance Albums.
The 40-position chart (published in full as a 100-position ranking on WARM’s platform) aggregates plays from dance-dedicated radio outlets worldwide, reflecting which songs are trending globally through a network of programmers and radio gatekeepers operating across multiple territories.
“The chart is based on 200-plus dedicated and culturally relevant dance music radio stations, broadcast in 30 countries that create a reflection of what is actually trending on radio globally,” says Jesper Skibsby, CEO of WARM. “Access to global radio airplay visibility is vital to the strength of dance music as radio remains predominantly human-curated, providing an aggregated view of organic programming trends rather than algorithm-driven consumption.”
Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard EVP Charts & Data Partnerships, adds, “Radio has always been an integral part of celebrating dance music globally, and Billboard is excited to add the WARM Global Dance Radio ranking to our weekly menu to provide dance fans and the music industry new insights on how songs and artists in this genre are resonating around the world.”
WARM monitors more than 23,000 radio stations across all genres and formats in 150 countries worldwide. Since 2016, WARM has been providing the music industry with real-time radio airplay data and insights through advanced music recognition technology and audio fingerprinting, creating greater opportunities for labels, publishers managers, radio promoters, and artists alike to make better data-driven decisions.
For more information, visit warmmusic.net.
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