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YouTube’s Tuma Basa to Exit as Director of Black Music & Culture

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Longtime YouTube executive Tuma Basa, who most recently served as the company’s director of Black music & culture, has announced his departure after eight years at the streaming giant.

“After eight great years at YouTube, I’m taking a leap of faith and stepping into my next chapter,” Basa wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday (April 2). “Thank you to the Music Team at YouTube, the leadership, the artists, the managers, the labels, the producers, the continents, the city specialists, the uploaders and YouTubeLovers and even the Gen AI haters that made this run.. a great run. Murakoze Cyane, Asante Sana, Siyabonga, Amesegenalew, Gracias, Obrigado, Merci Beaucoup.”

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Basa was born in Zaire (now Congo) to a Rwandan family, but spent his childhood in Iowa after his father entered the graduate studies program at the University of Iowa; he then relocated to Zimbabwe as a teenager. During his tenure at YouTube, which he joined in 2018 as director of urban music, Basa became known for spotlighting African artists, including Nigerian star Burna Boy, and helping fuel their growth in the U.S.

Initially harboring aspirations to start a rap career under the name B.2ma B., Basa eventually pivoted to the executive track and landed music programming roles at BET, MTV and REVOLT. In 2015, he joined Spotify, where he served as global programming head of hip-hop. While at the streaming giant, he rose to prominence in part for curating the service’s popular Rap Caviar playlist.

Billboard reached out to YouTube for comment on Basa’s departure.


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Tyga to Make Feature Film Debut in Coming-of-Age Drama Alongside ‘Outer Banks’ Star Madison Bailey

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Tyga is heading to Hollywood. Luckily for the “Rack City” rapper, it’s not a far ride from Calabasas, Calif., to the silver screen.

The 36-year-old (born Michael Ray Stevenson) is set to make his feature film debut starring in the coming-of-age drama Baby, You’re a Star. In addition to taking on a lead role, Tyga will serve as a producer and cowriter for the movie. Decorated music video director Arrad Rahgoshay is slated to direct the movie musical.

Tyga will star alongside Outer Banks‘ Madison Bailey, Ashton Sanders, Mike Epps, Apollonia, Clifton Powell, Patrick Cage and David Alan Grier.

The film’s storyline hits home with Tyga, which will follow an aspiring music artst determined to overcome life’s obstacles to reach stardom.

“Blending music, nostalgia and raw emotional stakes, the film aims to capture the spirit of a generation on the brink of cultural change,” a press release for Baby, You’re a Star states. Production for the movie is currently underway in Portland, Ore.

Tyga has been a rap staple for nearly 15 years since his breakout Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Rack City,” which reached No. 7 on the chart in early 2012. Among his 34 Hot 100 entries, Tyga’s notched another pair of top 10 anthems in his career with “Taste” alongside Offset (No. 8 peak) in 2018 and hopping on Chris Brown’s “Loyal” in 2014 (No. 9 peak).

T-Raww’s laid low for the first quarter of 2026 on the music side. The California native’s most recent album, NSFW, arrived in February 2025 with assists from Cher, Big Sean, Flo Milli, Lil Wayne, Shenseea, Lil Tjay and Ty Dolla $ign.


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Here Are the Songs the Artemis II Crew Is Waking Up to in Space

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Despite what the song says, the Pink Pony Club is not in West Hollywood — it’s in space. NASA shared the official Artemis II wake‑up playlist via social media on Wednesday (April 8).

NASA launched the Artemis II mission on April 1, sending four astronauts — Jeremy Hansen, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch — aboard the Orion spacecraft to the moon and back. One week into the trip, the space crew has curated a list of tracks to get them up and moving every day of their flight.

“Each track was selected by the Moon crew, continuing a tradition that started more than 50 years ago,” NASA explained with a photo of the astronauts on Instagram. “Stay tuned to find out which songs they’ll choose next.”

The first song the astronauts chose to wake up to in space is perfect for the occasion: “Sleepyhead” by Young & Sick, a solo music project by Dutch artist Nick van Hofwegen. John Legend and André 3000‘s 2008 Hot 100 hit “Green Light,” rose the team from their slumber next with lyrics fit for people on a mission: “I’m ready to go right now.”

The third song, “In a Daydream” by Freddy Jones Band, certainly describes the feeling of waking up beyond the stratosphere. Chappell Roan brought the “Pink Pony Club” to the stars when the crew started the day aboard the Orion with the anthemic Billboard Hot 100 No. 4 hit. CeeLo Green‘s “Working Class Heroes (Work)” is No. 5 on the list, followed by Mandisa and Toby Mac’s “Good Morning.”

Also making the playlist on the Orion is “Tokyo Drifting” by Glass Animals and Denzel Curry. Curry celebrated being included in the astronauts’ daily music routine with a post to X on Tuesday (April 7). “Even Aliens F— with my S–t!” Curry wrote, reposting a NASA video of the spacecraft playing his tune. “First Rapper Played in SPACE N—A!”

Glass Animals also responded to the reveal of the group’s inclusion on the playlist. “this is the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me in my life ever,” the band commented on the Instagram post.

See who else made the Artemis II Wake-Up Songs playlist below:


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Watch ‘Champion of All Athletes’ Flavor Flav Throw the First Pitch at Fenway Park on Easter

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Flavor Flav has once again proven his dedication to sports. Flav joined the Boston Red Sox on Easter Sunday (April 5) to throw the first pitch at their game against the San Diego Padres at Fenway Park.

Though Flav is from New York, home to the Red Sox’s biggest rivals, the Yankees, he repped Boston through and through for the occasion. The rapper showed up decked out in a custom Flavor Flav Red Sox jersey, a red baseball cap and matching red pants. And, of course, in Flavor Flav fashion, he also made sure to wear a blinged out red, white and blue version of his signature giant clock necklace.

When Flav stepped out to the pitch, the announcer referred to him as “a champion of all athletes.” Unfortunately, his pitch was not enough to win the Red Sox the game as Boston lost to San Diego 8-6. Despite the loss, Flavor Flav let fans know that he had a great time the game. The Public Enemy cofounder shared an Instagram carousel with highlights from his time at Fenway Park. In one video, Flav high-fived every Red Sox player in their dugout. In his post, Flavor Flav also shared that he ran into a special friend of his.

“I ran into my girl [Jordan Raney] from the USA Olympic Water Polo team,” Flav said in the caption to the post, where he also included photos of himself hugging the Olympian.

The iconic rapper has famously been a big advocate and financial supporter of women’s sports. Ahead of the 2024 Olympics, the rapper offered to sponsor the U.S. women’s water polo team after learning that they were severely underfunded and members of the team were working multiple jobs to make ends meet. In July of that year, Flav officially inked a five-year sponsorship deal with both the women’s and men’s teams.

After this year’s Winter Olympics, Flav invited the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team to party with him in Vegas after Donald Trump made a dismissive joke about inviting the women to the White House in a conversation with the men’s team. He also joined the U.S. bobsled and skeleton teams at the Winter Olympics as their official hype man.

Watch Flav throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park on Easter above.


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