Entertainment
Bad Bunny, Sabrina Carpenter, Cardi B: Which Pop Stars Won September 2025?
We are getting into spooky season on the calendar, especially for any pop star not named Taylor Swift. Just before the Oct. 3 release of The Life of a Showgirl makes for a solar eclipse over the rest of the top 40 landscape, the biggest names had one final month to get in their last big releases, performances and overall moments — and many of them did just that.
This week, we look back at the September that was in pop stardom, as host Andrew Unterberger is joined by Billboard staffers Eric Renner Brown and Eric Frankenberg to share and debate our respective August top five lists, while also naming some honorable mentions, some disappointments, and some artists who we’re looking forward to in the months to come. (If you missed our recaps of the first seven months of 2025, check them out here, including our review of the entire first half of the year in pop stardom.)
While doing so, we answer all the big questions about September pop stardom: How big a deal is Bad Bunny headlining halftime at America’s Game during this moment in history? How do we rate Cardi B’s long-awaited return to pop stardom? Has any 2024 pop star leveled up this year as well as Tate McRae? Is it actually fair to compare Zara Larsson’s Midnight Sun with Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia? Did Doja Cat really need to make a hard turn back to pop? And of course, with the year now three quarters of the way through: Who is leading the race for the Greatest Pop Star of 2025?
Check it out above, along with a YouTube playlist of some of the greatest moments in September 2025 pop stardom — all of which are discussed on the pod — and subscribe to the Greatest Pop Stars podcast on Apple Music or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts) for weekly discussions every Thursday about all things related to pop stardom!
And as we say in every one of these GPS podcast posts — if you have the time and money to spare, please consider donating to any of these causes in the fight for trans rights:
Transgender Law Center
Trans Lifeline
Destination Tomorrow
Gender-Affirming Care Fundraising on GoFundMe
Also, please consider giving your local congresspeople a call in support of trans rights, with contact information you can find on 5Calls.org.
Entertainment
NFL Player Keion White Shot Following Alleged Argument With Lil Baby at a Nightclub
NFL player Keion White was shot early Monday (Feb. 9) following an alleged argument with Lil Baby at a San Francisco nightclub.
According to ABC7, White was shot in the ankle at Dahlia’s, where the 49ers defensive lineman was hosting a Super Bowl party.
SFPD responded to calls for gunshots around 4 a.m. PT on Monday, according to ABC7. The San Francisco Standard viewed the police report, which, according to the publication, said a witness told law enforcement that White got into an argument with Baby as the rapper and his entourage tried to enter the private event, and was then shot, hours after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
Billboard has reached out to reps for Lil Baby and the SFPD for comment.
“Any violent incident in our city is unacceptable, and I’m hoping Keion recovers quickly. I’ve spoken with SFPD and 49ers leadership — we are all grateful to our SFPD officers for their quick response,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said on X. “As always, I will continue working with San Francisco law enforcement to ensure our neighborhoods and our residents are safe.”
According to the San Francisco 49ers, White underwent successful surgery on his ankle and the injuries are not expected to be “career-threatening.”
“A preliminary investigation revealed a verbal altercation occurred between two groups inside a business,” San Francisco police said in a statement, per ESPN. “The victim was injured when shots were fired by an unknown suspect.”
No arrests have been made yet, and no suspects have been named by the San Francisco Police Department.
Lil Baby was spotted attending Super Bowl LX with his son, Jason. On the music side, Baby has already notched collabs with Tkandz as well as Veeze and Rylo Rodriguez in 2026. The Atlanta rapper’s “Mrs. Trendsetter” held at No. 89 on last week’s Billboard Hot 100.
Entertainment
Don Toliver Scores His First No. 1 Hit on Hot Rap Songs Chart
Don Toliver’s busy week across Billboard’s charts includes the rapper-singer’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot Rap Songs list, as “Body” debuts atop the ranking dated Feb. 7. The new champ, on Donnway & Co./Cactus Jack/Atlantic Records, captains his collection of 17 tracks this week’s chart. They’re all from his new album, Octane, which storms in at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart with 162,000 equivalent album units.
The 17-track parade marks the most cuts that Don Toliver has posted on the Hot Rap Songs chart in a single week, and makes him only the sixth artist to claim 17 or more simultaneous appearances. He joins Drake, who has done it twice, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Playboi Carti and Travis Scott in the chart’s 34-year history.
“Body” owes its coronation on the multimetric Hot Rap Songs chart, a weighted combination of streaming, radio airplay and sales data in the United States, almost entirely to 14.3 million official on-demand streams for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5, according to Luminate. Thanks to that sum, it sparks a No. 1 debut on the Rap Streaming Songs chart. In the remaining categories, “Body” had 106,000 radio audience impressions and a negligible amount of song downloads.
With “Body,” Don Toliver achieves his first Hot Rap Songs No. 1 after 30 prior appearances. The performer previously peaked twice at No. 3 through featured roles: He and NAV guested on Internet Money and Gunna’s “Lemonade,” which reached the bronze in November 2020, while his and Future’s supporting turns on Metro Boomin’s “Too Many Nights” led to the same prize in December 2022. As a lead artist, his own “Tiramisu” set his previous career high of No. 6 in September 2025.
Similarly, “Body” leads Don Toliver’s ledger on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (No. 3) and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (No. 14).
With “Body” on top, here’s a recap of all 17 Don Toliver tracks on Hot Rap Songs. Among them, 15 are debuts, while “ATM” and “Tiramisu” nab their second and third weeks, respectively.
- No. 1, “Body”
- No. 2, “E85”
- No. 4, “ATM”
- No. 5, “Secondhand,” feat. Rema
- No. 6, “Rendezvous,” feat. Yeat
- No. 8, “Tiramisu”
- No. 9, “Rosary,” feat. Travis Scott
- No. 10, “Call Back”
- No. 11, “Gemstone”
- No. 12, “Excavator”
- No. 13, “Opposite”
- No. 17, “All the Signs,” feat. Teezo Touchdown
- No. 18, “Tuition”
- No. 19, “K9,” feat. SahBabii
- No. 22, “TMU”
- No. 24, “Sweet Home”
- No. 25, “Pleasure’s Mine”
Entertainment
Baby Keem Announces ‘Ca$ino’ Album Release Date & Previews Kendrick Lamar Collaboration
Baby Keem is back. Keem announced plans for his upcoming album, Ca$ino, on Tuesday (Feb. 10), and the sophomore LP is slated to arrive on Feb. 20.
“Ca$ino Feb 20, 2026 Limited Edition Vinyl Available Now,” Keem wrote on Instagram. The 25-year-old revealed the LP’s cover art, which features a photo of a young Baby Keem with the parental advisory sticker.
Ca$ino boasts 12 tracks, including collaborations with his cousin Kendrick Lamar, Too Short, Momo Boys and Che Ecru.
With the four-plus-year layoff, fans are anticipating Keem’s return. “Took your time bro this better be a classic,” one person commented. Another added: “USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS!”
Keem also released a Ca$ino documentary on YouTube to accompany the announcement. The Booman I doc features appearances from plenty of Keem’s family members describing his upbringing, including an appearance from Kendrick. “I understand the hardships before he was born. Knowing his mom, that’s my first cousin,” he said. “I already knew what she was going through, just the history of our family in general. We don’t call ourselves the hillbillies for nothing.”
Lamar continued: “Section 8, welfare … This is a story of a warfare environment and a warfare psychologically trying to change our generational curses.”
There’s also footage of Keem in the studio working on his collab with Lamar, “Good Flirts.” “Walking in the party, I don’t feel nobody/ What the f—k,” K. Dot raps on the hard-hitting track. “Is it fake, is it love, probably/ I smell something.”
Baby Keem’s debut album, The Melodic Blue, arrived in September 2021 and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. He released a deluxe for the LP in October 2022 featuring Lil Uzi Vert and PinkPantheress.
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