For the first time in thirty-five years, there are no rap songs listed among the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 music chart, representing the most popular singles in America.
This occurred after the track “Luther” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA dropped out of the top 40 following a 13-week run at number one.
Currently, the highest-ranking songs in the rap genre are “Shot Callin” by YoungBoy Never Broke Again at number 44, “Safe” by Cardi B at 48, and “Hell at Night” by BigXthaPlug at 49.
The last time there were no rap songs in the Billboard Top 40 was in February 1990, according to <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/no-rap-songs-hot-100-top-40-first-time-since-1990-1236100625/">Billboard</a>.
Part of the reason for the change is new rules that say descending songs are “recurrent” and removed from the chart if they have appeared for certain durations on the chart while falling below prescribed thresholds. That’s what happened to “Luther,” which dropped to number 38 after being on the chart for 46 weeks. 
Currently, the top song is Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia,” which has been on the chart since its release three weeks ago. Out of the top 40, twelve of the songs are from the pop star’s “The Life of a Showgirl” album. 
Other top ten songs include “Golden,” featured in the hit Netflix series “KPop Demon Hunters,” and the single “Ordinary” by Alex Warren, along with “Daisies” by Justin Bieber and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need.”
Billboard noted that many rap artists are in an “in-between” period, with fans eagerly awaiting Drake’s upcoming “Iceman” album and with his rival Kendrick Lamar being “somewhat dormant” after years in the spotlight. But <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/no-rap-songs-billboard-21129466.php">per</a> The San Francisco Chronicle, the market share for hip-hop music was almost 30% in 2020 but slipped to 24% this year. Five years ago, there were 16 rap songs in the top 40, while two years ago, that number decreased to 8 songs.

Kendrick Lamar and SZA

There Are No Rap Songs In The Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 For The First Time In 35 Years

Billboard

Culture

Music

Music Industry

Rap Music

Performer Bob Vylan celebrated the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk during a performance, shouting vile insults from the stage as he referred to the Turning Point USA founder as a &#8220;piece of s***&#8221; and worse.
Vylan — who recently made headlines for chanting &#8220;Death to the IDF&#8221; from the stage at Glastonbury&#8217;s famed music festival — trashed Kirk from a stage adorned with a Palestinian flag, saying he&#8217;d deserved to get shot.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BOB VYLAN CELEBRATES DEATH OF CHARLIE KIRK
Calls Charlie &#8220;An absolute piece of sh!t&#8221;
&#8220;Pronouns Was/Were&#8221;
“Coz if you chat sh!t, you get banged.” Followed by a gun gesture. 
<a href="https://t.co/rBSkNloxcG">pic.twitter.com/rBSkNloxcG</a>
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) <a href="https://twitter.com/EYakoby/status/1967270424150249831?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I want to dedicate this next one to an absolute piece of s*** of a human being,&#8221; he began, pacing back and forth across the stage.
&#8220;The pronouns: Was/Were,&#8221; he said, prompting cheers from the audience. &#8220;&#8216;Cos if you talk s***, you will get banged. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk, you piece of s***.&#8221;
He made a shooting gesture with his hand and then proceeded to dance around the stage as the crowd cheered some more.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-consider-criminal-charges-after-rapper-leads-death-to-the-idf-chant-at-festival">Vylan</a> prompted backlash after his Glastonbury performance when he led chants of &#8220;Free, free Palestine&#8221; and &#8220;Death to the IDF&#8221; during the show in June. Police in the United Kingdom even considered formal charges against him at the time.
&#8220;We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon,” Avon and Somerset Police <a href="https://x.com/ASPolice/status/1939025011844485405" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on X. “Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.&#8221;
Festival officials rebuked Vylan in a statement, saying, &#8220;We are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday. Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.&#8221;

Hugh R Hastings/Getty Images

Rapper Who Chanted ‘Death To IDF’ Targets Charlie Kirk In Profane Rant

Rapper Who Chanted 'Death To IDF' Targets Charlie Kirk In Profane Rant

assassination

Charlie Kirk

Media

Politics

Astronomer announced the resignation of CEO Andy Byron on Saturday, just days after a video showing the married tech executive cozying up to a colleague at a Coldplay concert went viral.
The company shared the news of Byron&#8217;s resignation in a post to X on Saturday afternoon, saying the CEO had failed to meet the company&#8217;s standards with regard to &#8220;conduct and accountability.&#8221;
&#8220;As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,&#8221; the statement read. &#8220;Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.&#8221;
&#8220;The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO,&#8221; it continued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.
Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and… <a href="https://t.co/aTTUhnnyVz">pic.twitter.com/aTTUhnnyVz</a>
— Astronomer (@astronomerio) <a href="https://twitter.com/astronomerio/status/1946640685983224131?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The company announced an investigation into the situation on Friday, also dismissing rumors that another employee was in attendance at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, at the time the video was taken.
The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/coldplay-fan-who-posted-video-of-ceo-embracing-his-chief-people-officer-speaks-out" target="_blank" rel="noopener">short video</a> shows Byron and Cabot embracing one another and then reacting with shock upon realizing they were on the kiss cam. Byron immediately lets go of Cabot and ducks out of frame, while Cabot hides her face and turned away from the camera.
“Oh look at these two,” Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said to the crowd. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”
Amanda Harding contributed to this report.

Byron

Tech Company CEO Resigns After Coldplay Kiss Cam Debacle

concert

The official cause of death for legendary songwriter and Beach Boys founding member Brian Wilson was revealed on Thursday.
Wilson, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brian-wilson-beach-boys-founder-and-legendary-songwriter-dead-at-82">passed away</a> weeks ago at the age of 82, died of respiratory arrest, according to a death certificate obtained by entertainment website <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2025/06/26/brian-wilson-cause-of-death/">TMZ</a>. Respiratory arrest, the site explained, occurs when the heart is still beating, but the lungs cease to function, thus failing to deliver oxygen to the body.
Several other conditions were listed as contributing factors in the musician&#8217;s death, including sepsis, cystitis, neurodegenerative disorder, chronic kidney disease and respiratory failure, and obstructive sleep apnea.
Wilson was just 19 when he founded the iconic band alongside brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine — and the group made the laid-back surfing vibe into a musical movement. They solidified themselves as rock stars with 1966&#8217;s Pet Sounds album, which included standouts like &#8220;Good Vibrations&#8221; and &#8220;God Only Knows.&#8221;
Wilson struggled publicly with his mental health in his later years, once telling <a href="https://people.com/brian-wilson-dead-82-beach-boys-singer-co-founder-8548234">People Magazine</a>, &#8220;I’ve been through a great deal of mental anguish. I felt like a fat slob. It was very embarrassing. I used to go onstage and it was scary. Now I’m getting used to it. I feel a little more confidence in myself.&#8221;
He was placed under a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-beach-boys-member-brian-wilson-under-conservatorship-due-to-dementia-diagnosis">conservatorship</a> just over a year before he died — and following the death of his wife, Melinda — due to a &#8220;major neurocognitive disorder.&#8221;
&#8220;This decision was made to ensure that there will be no extreme changes to the household and Brian and the children living at home will be taken care of and remain in the home where they are cared for by Gloria Ramos and the wonderful team at the house who have been in place for many years helping take care of the family,&#8221; a statement from his family read. &#8220;Brian will be able to enjoy all of his family and friends and continue to work on current projects as well as participate in any activities he chooses.&#8221;

Brian Wilson

Cause Of Death Revealed For Beach Boys Legend Brian Wilson

Celebrities

Mental Health

U.S.

Beyoncé rode a vintage car through the air &#8212; but does that hold a candle to getting busted by the cops while playing a Columbia, Missouri, house party?
In an era where over-the-top concerts and sky-high ticket prices dominate headlines, The All-American Rejects are taking a different approach. The pop-punk band, which rose to fame in the early 2000s, is reconnecting with fans on their House Party Tour, which brings the band to intimate, fan-suggested venues. 
Frontman Tyson Ritter explained the motivation behind this unconventional approach.
&#8220;I recently read something about people financing festival tickets, the complete inaccessibility of the concert experience in 2025, and how it&#8217;s juxtaposed against these wild and weird economic times,&#8221; he told <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/all-american-rejects-interview-house-party-tour.html#:~:text=%2C%E2%80%9D%20he%20says.-,%E2%80%9CI%20recently%20read%20something%20about%20people%20financing%20festival%20tickets%2C%20the,our%20shows%20can%20still%20work.%E2%80%9D">Vulture</a> in a recent interview.
This realization led to the band investing their own money to bring live music directly to fans.
&#8220;We took $50,000 out of our own pockets, booked a bus,” Ritter explained. “For me, it was that we could find an opening and an opportunity as four guys from Oklahoma who didn’t come from much.&#8221;
&#8220;I was raised in a trailer house, my first concert was sitting on my porch listening to a band that was playing at an outdoor pavilion,” Ritter added, noting that the backyard tour is also a form of protest against the music industry status quo.
“It was like, this is the reason people are showing up. It’s the have-nots and have-littles in the middle-of-nowhere America who keep the lights on for our country. They’re often drive-through states for many of these big tours. Who’s playing Ames, Iowa? Who’s playing Green Bay, Wisconsin? Unless it’s a big arena with the big old sponsor,” he told the outlet.
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“You’re seeing it now where these giant artists — I’m not going to say her name — aren’t really selling out their shows anymore, and they pay for these arenas to make it look like they did,” Ritter added. “The first 25% of the arena gets sold from people buying $300 tickets, and they don’t even know that the local promoter is getting hundreds of free tickets to fill the rest of the venue.”
The House Party Tour has taken off in a large part because younger concertgoers never got to experience intimate concerts. And since Gen Z is all about nostalgia, they were eager to latch onto something they’d heard about, but had never got to try firsthand.
“We did a show in LA that was the kind that you have to do when promoting new music. It left a sour taste in our mouths and in this giant gorilla of an industry we’re clawing our way back into, we decided to put on a show the next day,” Ritter told <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2025/05/21/all-american-rejects-singer-tyson-ritter-pop-up-shows-interview/83777418007/">USA Today</a>, adding that the band first played at the home of a University of Southern California student with just five hours notice.
He added, “We start playing and there were [40 ounce bottles of beer] hoisted in the air and people crowd surfing. I looked into some of their eyes and I saw a rite of passage moment was happening. That they’re going, ‘I saw pictures of my parents doing this, but I never got to.’”
Ritter said the band recaptured a feeling from long ago. “We felt cool,” he told Vulture.
“So after that night, we all put our heads together to see what would be possible. My wife’s getting ready to bring our second child into the world, and she’s due in a week and a half. I told my manager, ‘What if we do as many as we can in this week-and-a-half space? Let’s do it the same way we did when we started out. Let’s reach out to college radio stations and local businesses. Let’s ask for a $5 donation at the door.’ It was that simple.”
Since then, the Rejects have performed in a variety of unconventional venues, including a Minneapolis bowling alley and fans&#8217; backyards in “flyover states” like Iowa and Missouri. These pop-up shows emphasize spontaneity and a return to the communal spirit of live music.
Despite not making money hand over fist like other artists charging hundreds or even thousands of dollars per ticket, the band has been prioritizing connection with fans over profit. And they’re finding new fans in addition to the millennials who remember viral hits from the early aughts like “Swing Swing,” “Move Along,” and “Gives You Hell.”
In the case of getting <a href="https://people.com/all-american-rejects-backyard-gig-shut-down-by-cops-11741776">busted by the police</a> while performing at the University of Missouri, the patrol sergeant admitted to listening to The All-American Rejects in college and allowed the band to play “one more song” before the party had to disperse.
Their choice? The viral 2008 jam “Gives You Hell.&#8221; Obviously.
The House Party Tour coincides with the release of &#8220;Sandbox,&#8221; the band&#8217;s first new song in almost 14 years. They will be opening for the Jonas Brothers on an actual stage beginning on August 10, but for now, they’re gaining fans and publicity by proving they don’t think they’re too good for a classic middle America roller rink.
And instead of being embarrassed or feeling like it’s beneath them, the band is proud of the route they’ve chosen. “This is going to be a feather we fly in our cap, and we’re going to Yankee Doodle as far as we can go,” Ritter said. “I felt like I was watching an echo of a yesterday that got me into doing this.”

The All-American Rejects Perform Free Show After High Wind Warning Cancels Day One Of The 2022 When We Were Young Festival

This Pop-Rock Band Ditched Pyrotechnics For Middle America Porch Parties

Entertainment

rock music

Recording artist Billy Joel has canceled all his upcoming shows and shared a health update with fans.
The 76-year-old singer shared a lengthy statement on social media, which included news of his medical diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH).
Per the <a href="https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/what-is-dementia/types-of-dementia/normal-pressure-hydrocephalus#:~:text=Normal%20pressure%20hydrocephalus%20is%20a,spinal%20tap%20is%20often%20normal.">Alzheimer’s Association</a>, this condition occurs when cerebrospinal fluid builds up inside the skull and presses on the brain. This can “disrupt and damage nearby brain tissue, leading to difficulty walking, problems with thinking and reasoning, and loss of bladder control.”
The condition has been exacerbated by his recent tour schedule, and has led to issues with Joel’s hearing, vision, and balance.
The statement on Instagram said the “Piano Man” singer has been &#8220;advised to refrain from performing during this recovery period.&#8221;
It also said Joel is &#8220;thankful for the excellent care he is receiving and is fully committed to prioritizing his health. He is grateful for the support from fans during this time and looks forward to the day when he can once again take the stage.&#8221;
&#8220;I’m sincerely sorry to disappoint our audience, and thank you for understanding,&#8221; Joel said in a statement.
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This news comes after Joel took a fall onstage at the Mohegan Sun resort in Montville, Connecticut, in February and subsequently postponed the rest of his tour. Now those rescheduled dates are being canceled indefinitely.
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At the time, Joel said only that the concert tour changes were due to a “medical condition.”
Joel is an iconic American singer-songwriter and pianist known for hits like “Piano Man,” “Uptown Girl,” “Tell Her About It,” “The Longest Time,” and “New York State of Mind.” With over 160 million records sold, he&#8217;s one of the best-selling artists of all time, with a career that’s been going strong since the 1970s.

Billy Joel

Billy Joel Cancels All Upcoming Concerts Following Health Diagnosis, Fall Onstage

singer

Few artists loathe the music industry quite like Tom MacDonald.
The rebel rapper takes glee in taunting labels on his social media platforms. He recently posted a troll video in front of Sony Music headquarters, name-checking industry pariahs like R. Kelly and P. Diddy with a broad grin on his face.
And despite repeatedly crashing the Billboard music charts he’s refused to go corporate for a bigger promotional wallop.
MacDonald is solo to the core, with an assist from his girlfriend/video director Nova Rockafeller. No managers. No publicists. Just the music and his sizable social media flock.
The mind behind “Fake Woke,” “Snowflakes” and “American Flags” still felt influenced by mainstream superstars, from their branding efforts to songs that purport to dig deeper into their personal lives.
<div id="attachment_891745" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-891745" class="size-large wp-image-891745" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-1024x576.jpg" alt="Screenshot: YouTube/Tom MacDonald &quot;Facts&quot; feat. Ben Shapiro" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/03/MixCollage-14-Mar-2025-10-16-AM-4499-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: YouTube/Tom MacDonald &#8220;Facts&#8221; feat. Ben Shapiro</div>
“As an independent artist, we’re all watching what the biggest artists in the world are doing and what they sound like,” he says. “Even if you’re somebody like me who detests the major label system, you’re taking information in. You’re being indoctrinated … they must know what’s best.”
It took a while to shake free from that thinking, something he accomplished on his latest album.
“Proud to Be a Problem” finds the Canadian native opening up about his life in ways he never did before.
“I’ve never really been good with processing my emotions and explaining the way I’m feeling to other people… it’s the reason why I make music,” the California-based musician says.
<div id="attachment_915575" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-915575" class="size-large wp-image-915575" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-574-1024x576.jpg" alt="Screenshot: YouTube.com/Tom MacDonald." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-574-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-574-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-574-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-574-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-574-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: YouTube.com/Tom MacDonald.</div>
Time and maturity have let him tap into something vital and deeply personal, witness tracks like “Hell &amp; Back.”
<blockquote>I&#8217;ve been called a loser since first day of 2nd grade 
I&#8217;ve been an alcoholic with one foot inside the grave 
And I&#8217;ve been brave enough to say that I&#8217;m afraid I&#8217;m not okay 
And I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;ll survive another day</blockquote>
Other tracks, like “Man in the Sky,” merge MacDonald’s protest-singer DNA with heartfelt pleas for empathy. He’s an imperfect vessel in an imperfect world.
The musician’s flaws, like his signature tattoos, are visible to all. <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/goodbye-joe-god-bless-the-usa-top-digital-song-sales-chart-after-election-1235825769/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">So are his successes</a>.
His post-election song “Goodbye Joe” gave him his <a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/goodbye-joe-god-bless-the-usa-top-digital-song-sales-chart-after-election-1235825769/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fourth number-one ranking</a> on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart, following “Fake Woke,” “Ghost” and “You Missed.”
His YouTube channel boasts 5 million subscribers and most videos eclipse the million-view mark in days, not weeks.
MacDonald, whose recent pairings include songs with Roseanne Barr (“Daddy’s Home”) and The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro (“Facts”), sounds a little different on the new album. He isn’t giving up on rap, but the newer material offers a rootsy feel, brimming with acoustic guitars.
<div id="attachment_915573" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-915573" class="size-large wp-image-915573" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-57-AM-7387-1024x576.jpg" alt="Screenshot: YouTube.com/Tom MacDonald." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-57-AM-7387-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-57-AM-7387-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-57-AM-7387-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-57-AM-7387-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-57-AM-7387-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: YouTube.com/Tom MacDonald.</div>
That singing style hearkens back to his earliest days as a musician. He remembers riding in the car with his father as a boy when he came up with a jingle for Ford.
“[My Dad] was bewildered … where did that come from?” MacDonald recalls. 
He started writing music more often, but he felt he didn’t have the classic rock voice, a la Robert Plant or Joe Cocker, to execute the material. “I had to do something else. I was writing poetry, a primitive form of rap. That’s how the rap thing started,” he says.
“Problem” found him more confident in his singing, allowing him to expand his sound in the process.
“I know where my boundaries are and what I’m capable of singing on a song &#8230; if I don’t do it right now I won’t have a good enough excuse to give it a good shot [later],” he says.
Fans can pick up “Proud to Be a Problem” at MacDonald’s official web site, <a href="https://hangovergangofficial.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HangoverGangOfficial.com</a>. That’s part of his indie approach, lashing out at a streaming landscape that pays little to participating artists.
“I have such a big chip on my shoulder for the music industry,” he says, recalling a brush with a major label earlier in his career that ended in rejection. “I’ve done enough for these streaming platforms.”
“A big part of the reason I put the singles on streaming is we keep going to no. 1 on Billboard [charts] … it’s a giant f***ing middle finger to the music industry,” he says.
<div id="attachment_915581" style="width: 334px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-915581" class="wp-image-915581 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-12-10-PM-5842-324x576.jpg" alt="Screenshot: Instagram/@TomMacDonaldOfficial" width="324" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-12-10-PM-5842-324x576.jpg 324w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-12-10-PM-5842-169x300.jpg 169w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-12-10-PM-5842-768x1365.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-12-10-PM-5842-864x1536.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-12-10-PM-5842-1152x2048.jpg 1152w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-12-10-PM-5842.jpg 1440w" sizes=" (max-width: 324px) 100vw, 324px" />Screenshot: Instagram/@TomMacDonaldOfficial</div>
That solo spirit extends beyond the music on “Problem.” He designed the merchandise around the released, mailed signed LP copies of it to fans personally and oversaw every part of the production.
“It hasn’t been touched by Hollywood. That’s the way I want it,” he says.
He shared his feelings about sending out signed copies of “Proud to Be a Problem” to fans on his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJIdKXgPXX0/?img_index=1">Instagram account</a>:
<blockquote>I gotta tell y’all &#8211; people didn’t care about me for most of my life. I was one of the forgotten people whose voice was drown out by the noise of the world. Every single day I’m shocked that you guys care about me enough to want my album and my signature. I’m shocked…but I’m thrilled. I felt like a “nobody” for so long that every day I wake up expecting to be forgotten again. Every day that y’all remember me, you prove me wrong. And you absolutely make my day. No one should ever feel like a nobody. But it happens.</blockquote>
That personal connection reflects being a music fan growing up in Canada. He fondly remembers lining up at the local record store and waiting for the newest albums to go on sale.
“When you got that album .. you felt like you might be one of the only people in the world who had it,” he says. “You could hold on to it, a physical product … That’s the way I want my music to be experienced.”
Record labels still reach out to MacDonald about potential deals, and he sometimes will listen to the conversation. Then, he’ll share his reactions on Instagram.
“I’ve been trolling these people for years and years,” he says. “I’d rather roll around on broken glass [than sign onto a label].”
<div id="attachment_915577" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-915577" class="size-large wp-image-915577" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-5929-1024x576.jpg" alt="Screenshot: YouTube.com/Tom MacDonald." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-5929-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-5929-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-5929-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-5929-1536x865.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/05/MixCollage-03-May-2025-11-58-AM-5929-2048x1153.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot: YouTube.com/Tom MacDonald.</div>
MacDonald leveraged new media and a collective mistrust of the mainstream to power his music career. Somewhere a fledgling singer/songwriter might want to follow in his shoes, avoiding corporate overlords to make music on their terms.
MacDonald has some clichéd but honest advice for the next generation of indie musicians.
“Just be yourself … there’s always gonna be a better producer, a better rapper, a better singer. You’re the only person on earth who can do you better than anybody else,” he says. “The entire world is fake and bulls*** and disingenuous. The best way to cut through all that noise is to be honest and scream your truth at the top of your lungs … people gravitate towards the truth and what’s real.”
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Millions Of Views And Fiercely Independent. Inside The Mind Of Tom MacDonald.

Conservatives

Rapper

Tom MacDonald

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday that targeted ticket resellers and scalpers who profit from jacking up the prices.
Recording artist Kid Rock joined the president for the signing. The order directs the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to team up with state attorneys general to enforce laws that prevent entertainers and fans from being overcharged and price gouged by resellers, per <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5224370-trump-executive-order-ticket-scalping-reselling/amp/">The Hill</a>.
The EO also highlights the Better Online Ticket Sales (BOTS) Act and promotes it being enforced by consumer protection authorities.
It also ensures price transparency at all stages of the ticket-purchasing process, including the secondary ticket market, as a better protection for concertgoers. The EO says it will take action to prevent &#8220;unfair, deceptive, and anti-competitive conduct&#8221; in the secondary ticketing market.
&#8220;Anyone who&#8217;s bought a concert ticket in the last decade, maybe 20 years, no matter what your politics are, knows it is a conundrum,&#8221; Kid Rock, who was decked out in red, white, and blue, told reporters. 
&#8220;If you buy a ticket for 100 bucks by the time you check it out, it&#8217;s 170. You don&#8217;t know what you can charge for it, but more importantly, these bots you know, they come in to get all the good tickets to your favorite shows you want to go to, and then they&#8217;re relisted immediately for sometimes a 4 or 500% markup.&#8221; 
Kid Rock explained that the artists &#8220;don&#8217;t see any of that money.&#8221;  
“It bothers him, it bothers a lot of other artists too,” Trump said of Kid Rock. 
Trump mentioned tackling high concert ticket prices while on the campaign trail last year.
“Scalpers and bots prevent fans from getting tickets at the prices artists set, and we thank President Trump for taking them head-on. We support any meaningful resale reforms — including more enforcement of the BOTS act, caps on resale prices, and more,” Live Nation Entertainment told The Daily Wire in a statement on Tuesday morning.
Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino echoed that sentiment in an X <a href="https://x.com/Michael_Rapino/status/1906842969078120667">post</a> thanking President Trump and Kid Rock for &#8220;taking ticket-scalping head on.&#8221;
&nbsp;

Kid Rock and Trump

Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Ticket Scalpers And Resellers

President Trump Signs EO Targeting Ticket Scalpers And Resellers

Donald Trump

Executive Orders

Kid Rock

This year’s nominees for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/music">Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame</a> were announced on Wednesday and included a mix of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/music-industry">genres</a>, from country to rock, pop, punk, and others. 
To become eligible, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">performers</a> must have released their first commercial recording at least 25 years ago. About half of the nominees will be inducted based on who gets the most votes. Ballots are sent to more than 1,000 &#8220;rock experts&#8221; who evaluate the candidates and decide which names on the list deserve to be added.
&#8220;These remarkable nominees have each created their own musical style and attitude impacting generations of music lovers and contributing to the ever-evolving sounds and continued growth of rock &amp; roll,&#8221; said John Sykes, the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame Foundation&#8217;s chairman, in a statement shared with <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/02/12/nx-s1-5293515/rock-roll-hall-of-fame-2025-nominees">NPR</a>. 
Voting begins now and the finalists will be revealed in April, with a ceremony to follow in the fall. The full list of nominees is as follows: 
<ul>
<li>Bad Company</li>
<li>The Black Crowes</li>
<li>Mariah Carey</li>
<li>Chubby Checker</li>
<li>Joe Cocker</li>
<li>Billy Idol</li>
<li>Joy Division/New Order</li>
<li>Cyndi Lauper</li>
<li>Maná</li>
<li>Oasis</li>
<li>OutKast</li>
<li>Phish</li>
<li>Soundgarden</li>
<li>The White Stripes</li>
</ul>
BBC News noted that the British pop band Oasis was also nominated last year but ultimately didn’t get inducted. The band’s lead singer Liam Gallagher spoke harshly about the Hall of Fame at the time, telling potential voters, &#8220;Don’t waste your time&#8230; as much as it’s appreciated it’s all a load of bollox.&#8221;
&#8220;I don’t need some w**k award by some geriatric in a cowboy hat,&#8221; Gallagher <a href="https://www.musicradar.com/news/liam-gallagher-oasis-rock-hall-of-fame">added</a>.
Mariah Carey was also nominated and not inducted last year and is on the ballot once again. “My thoughts are: I didn’t get in,&#8221; she said at the time. &#8220;My lawyer got into the Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame before I did,” the pop star quipped, referring to entertainment lawyer Alan Grubman, who was inducted in 2022.
Last year’s inductees included Cher, Foreigner, Ozzy Osbourne, Dave Matthews Band, Mary J. Blige, Peter Frampton, Jimmy Buffett, Dionne Warwick, A Tribe Called Quest, and Kool and the Gang.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees Announced: See The List

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees Announced: See The List

Rock and Roll

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/beyonce">Beyoncé</a> won for the first time ever in the highly lauded Album of the Year category at Sunday night’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/grammys">Grammy Awards</a> and became the first black artist to win Best Country Album with &#8220;Cowboy Carter.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;d like to thank all of the incredible country artists that accepted this album. We worked so hard on it,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I think sometimes genre is a cold word to keep us in a place as artists.&#8221;
The 43-year-old <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/entertainment">pop star</a> took home top honors for her country album. Other nominees for Album of the Year included Andre 3000, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli xcx, Jacob Collier, Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, and Taylor Swift.
Beyoncé began her acceptance speech by saying she’d “like to thank and acknowledge and praise all the firefighters for keeping us safe.” Members of the Los Angeles County Fire Department were still on the stage after presenting her with the award.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="BEYONCÉ Wins ALBUM OF THE YEAR For &#039;COWBOY CARTER&#039; | 2025 GRAMMYs Acceptance Speech" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uEyGYjlzbA0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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“Cowboy Carter,” a multi-genre album, was released in March and received mostly positive reviews. However, it was not nominated for any Country Music Association Awards last year.
Beyoncé was also nominated for nine other Grammy awards, making her the most-nominated artist in Grammy history.
Cowboy Carter was in no way a shoo-in as fans speculated that Swift, Eilish, Charlie xcx and hot new star Chappell Roan would offer tough competition for Album of the Year. 
Despite Swift&#8217;s massive popularity and the success of her Eras tour, which wrapped up this year, she did not win any Grammys last night.

Beyonce

Beyoncé Wins Album Of The Year And Best Country Album For ‘Cowboy Carter’

Beyoncé Wins Album Of The Year And Best Country Album For 'Cowboy Carter' 

Country Music

Grammy Awards

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/musician">Music industry</a> celebs Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Marshmello, and others are being accused of misusing funds distributed during the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/covid-19">COVID</a> pandemic meant to help struggling artists survive ongoing shutdowns.
An extensive <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lil-wayne-chris-brown-covid-relief-funds-svog-grant-2024-12">report</a> from Business Insider noted that these musicians applied for and received funds after President Donald Trump signed the grant into law in 2020. Other musicians and groups mentioned in the report include Alice in Chains, Shinedown, hip hop duo Rae Sremmerd, and Steve Aoki.
The Shuttered Venue Operations Grant (SVOG) allowed artists to collect up to $10 million to cover “ordinary and necessary” expenses. As part of the agreement, they were required to make a good-faith statement to the Small Business Administration and show that their companies had lost a minimum of 25% of revenue between one quarter in 2019 and the same quarter in 2020, the outlet noted.
The report accused Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Carter Jr., of accepting $8.9 million through the SVOG and spending $1.3 million on private jets, more than $460,000 on designer clothes, and $2.14 million to pay a debt he owed to his former manager. He also stands accused of spending more than $175,000 on a music festival promoting his marijuana brand, GKUA.
BI alleged that Brown collected $10 million for his company, CBE Touring. From that, the rapper reportedly paid himself $5.1 million. He also reportedly used $80,000 to host his birthday party. 
Marshmello, whose real name is Christopher Comstock, was approved for a $9.9 million grant, the outlet noted. That money was allegedly all given to him as salary, which was permitted under grant conditions because it did not exceed the amount of money he made the previous year.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://get.dailywire.com/gift-guide/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1734465856887000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0yoXh27k1XJufgc_qcfvEq">CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE</a>
DJ and record producer Aoki’s company, DJ Kid Millionaire Touring, allegedly spent $2.4 million of their approved grant money on payroll, including a $1.9 million chunk for Aoki himself. 
Shinedown band members reportedly took $8.3 million total and split $2.5 million three ways to pay themselves. Rae Sremmurd allegedly took $7.7 million in all.
The outlet noted that 13,000 groups received money from SVOG. The SVOG <a href="https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/covid-19-relief-options/shuttered-venue-operators-grant/about-svog">website</a> says the program included more than $16 billion in grants. Originally, musicians weren’t eligible for the grants, but that decision was later changed.
As of Thursday, none of the artists mentioned in the article had responded to requests for comment or publicly discussed the accusations.

Lil Wayne

Rappers, Musicians Accused Of Using COVID Grants For Private Jets And Parties: Report

Chris Brown

COVID

There was a mildly successful <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkzAgsOQJQE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercial</a> back in 2016 where LeBron James was promoting Sprite. He keeps looking into the camera and saying, &#8220;I won&#8217;t tell you to drink a Sprite.&#8221; It&#8217;s supposed to be engaging and funny because you see, normally, when celebrities appear in advertisements, they tell you to buy a product. But here you had LeBron James, appearing in a Sprite commercial, refusing to endorse Sprite. It really subverted everyone&#8217;s expectations.
Reverse psychology like this has become popular in advertising because the typical direct, straightforward celebrity endorsement doesn&#8217;t have the same impact that it once did. This is also why the idea of &#8220;reverse endorsements&#8221; has become a thing. This is when a company puts a celebrity on its board of directors to make them seem really invested in the company, when it&#8217;s basically a no-show job. Derek Jeter had a &#8220;reverse endorsement&#8221; <a href="https://www.lawjournalnewsletters.com/2016/10/18/jeter-endorsement-dispute-examines-role-as-a-director-of-apparel-company/?srsltid=AfmBOopnBt1NPpb0WFiFsazkLNHD4cPHVt___A7Xqh7cNIaYkWtRI7QP&amp;slreturn=20241107193919" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deal</a> with a company called RevolutionWear, that makes some kind of high-tech underwear. It all fell apart and ended in lawsuits when the company collapsed, because the world of high-tech underwear is apparently extremely cutthroat.
But the point is, this underwear company thought they&#8217;d get more value out of presenting Derek Jeter as a &#8220;director&#8221; of the company, rather than just going with the normal, direct celebrity endorsement. There are about a million other examples of this, because the memo has gone out. In the entertainment world, traditional celebrity endorsements aren&#8217;t as interesting as they used to be. If you want a celebrity endorsement to have an impact, you have to get creative with it. And even then, most people probably still won&#8217;t care.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1482-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
The only people who haven&#8217;t gotten this memo are in politics. Political endorsements by celebrities are all the same. They&#8217;re unconvincing, uncreative and patronizing. And yet for some reason, pundits and political strategists on the Left genuinely believe that these endorsements are game-changing. They think that, once the normal person hears one of these endorsements, they undergo a form of mind control where they&#8217;re hopeless to resist.
I&#8217;ve shared part of this clip before, but it&#8217;s worth seeing again because it may be the single best reaction video from MSNBC after they realized Trump was winning. This is Joy Reid trying to process how Donald Trump could have possibly defeated Kamala Harris. After all, Kamala Harris ran a &#8220;flawless campaign.&#8221; And as evidence of the proposition that Kamala Harris ran a &#8220;flawless campaign,&#8221; Joy Reid cites all of Kamala Harris&#8217; celebrity endorsements. This is footage that belongs in a museum for future historians studying the downfall of the Democrat Party and the corporate press. Watch:
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If you still haven&#39;t figured out the problem with the legacy media, this comment by Joy Ann Reid should set you straight. Reid says Harris ran a &quot;flawless&quot; campaign to the point that Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and &quot;even&quot; Queen Latifah who never endorses anyone, endorsed Harris. <a href="https://t.co/N8IwIplhKn">pic.twitter.com/N8IwIplhKn</a>
&mdash; Rupa Subramanya (@rupasubramanya) <a href="https://twitter.com/rupasubramanya/status/1854191530400997546?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
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There&#8217;s a lot to consider in that clip, but really at this point you can&#8217;t be mad at Joy Reid. Everyone knows she is what we may call, politely, a very special person. What&#8217;s kind of remarkable is that everyone else on the panel — people who are extremely partisan, but not clinically insane — just nod along when she makes this claim. She&#8217;s suggesting that a political endorsement by Queen Latifah is so rare and enigmatic that, if a candidate should ever obtain it, then that candidate must be blessed by the gods. That candidate would be destined to win. I guess that makes sense. She is royalty after all.
But that was a moment that should&#8217;ve been a bridge too far, even for an MSNBC panel. For one thing, the premise isn&#8217;t even true. We&#8217;re talking about the same &#8220;Queen Latifah&#8221; who performed at Obama&#8217;s inauguration after telling people to vote for hope and change. And then she did a skit with Kamala Harris just a few months ago at the &#8220;NAACP Image Awards,&#8221; telling everyone to register to vote because otherwise Trump will win. Yes, this is the Queen Latifah that supposedly never gets involved in politics.
But on top of that, even if we pretend Queen Latifah never gets involved in politics, the idea that her endorsement will sway anyone — or that it&#8217;s a sign of a &#8220;flawless campaign&#8221; — suggests that Democrats are suffering from a level of delusion that is truly unprecedented. And that becomes even more apparent when you look at this vaunted Queen Latifah endorsement they&#8217;re talking about. 
She just sits in a chair and, instead of talking about makeup, she reads off some talking points from Kamala Harris&#8217; campaign. Watch:
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Today, so much is on the line.
On one hand, we have HIM, a felon, a comfortable liar, an impeached president, a misogynist, and a non-leader who doesn’t care about anyone, but the top 1%&#8230;which excludes over 300M Americans.
And on the other hand, we have HER, Kamala Harris, a… <a href="https://t.co/6EhUwaa2z9">pic.twitter.com/6EhUwaa2z9</a>
&mdash; Queen Latifah (@IAMQUEENLATIFAH) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAMQUEENLATIFAH/status/1853728277447446780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 5, 2024</a></blockquote>
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One of the many amusing things about this video is the comments section, and how it differs depending on the platform. If you go on Instagram, a lot of the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/queenlatifah/reel/DB-94jSRJtS/?hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comments</a> are pretty supportive. There&#8217;s people posting heart emojis everywhere, saying it&#8217;s a powerful message, and how Queen Latifah is their hero and so on. One person wrote, &#8220;I’m going to always love you Queen Latifah ! Never change.&#8221;
And then you go on X, and it&#8217;s a completely different scenario. It&#8217;s like stepping out of a country club and into the Vietnam War. The top <a href="https://x.com/hodgetwins/status/1853816198627999886" target="_blank" rel="noopener">comment</a> is, &#8220;Did you go to the Diddy parties too?&#8221; The next <a href="https://x.com/apst_paul_Adams/status/1853752752205111495" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one</a> is, &#8220;How much were you paid?&#8221; And then <a href="https://x.com/VernonForGA/status/1853770039305945296" target="_blank" rel="noopener">there&#8217;s</a>, &#8220;Another weak man for Kamala.&#8221; It&#8217;s just brutal, if also hilarious, and completely justified.
It&#8217;s yet another reason the Left wants to destroy X. People on X generally reflect what&#8217;s going on in the country. But if you spend all your time on Reddit or Instagram, you might end up like Joy Reid. You might have thought Kamala Harris had this in the bag. After all, Queen Latifah&#8217;s on her side, and everyone else on the platform loves it. And then you go on X and everyone&#8217;s wondering how much she was paid.
Now, to be clear, I&#8217;m not saying Queen Latifah was paid for this endorsement. I would never suggest such a thing. But in general, it is worth noting that the Kamala Harris campaign raised something like $1 billion dollars, and they ended the campaign in debt by $20 million dollars. They had $120 million in the bank just a month ago, and now they&#8217;re in the red. And a lot of that money probably did go to some celebrity performances, like the one Megan Thee Stallion did at a Kamala rally. But in any event, it&#8217;s clear that this was a horribly managed campaign in every respect. So it&#8217;s not exactly unthinkable that these people truly thought an endorsement by Queen Latifah would help them win. They really seemed to think that people wanted to see stuff like this.
That would explain why they courted the endorsement of Cardi B, who&#8217;s so illiterate that it actually caused problems for the campaign. Mid-endorsement, her teleprompter went out, so she couldn&#8217;t say anything until someone ran up with a phone containing her prepared statement. Watch:
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🔥🚨BREAKING: Rapper Cardi B’s teleprompter broke when she took the stage at Kamala Harris rally in Wisconsin and Cardi had to wait in front of a live audience for over a minute until a stranger brought her a cell phone with a script. This tells you everything you need to know. <a href="https://t.co/kKL7q1lw35">pic.twitter.com/kKL7q1lw35</a>
&mdash; Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) <a href="https://twitter.com/dom_lucre/status/1852543848959905827?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2024</a></blockquote>
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You have to wonder, again, who this is supposed to impress. Even if she had read all of that perfectly, who exactly is supposed to care about this? What demographic are they targeting?
Whatever they were going for, it didn&#8217;t work. Pretty much the only demographic group that Kamala Harris won on Tuesday, according to exit polls, was the same group Joy Reid belongs to: black women. She won by something like 92%. It&#8217;s a two-percent improvement from Joe Biden two years ago. But both of these numbers are actually low, by Democrats&#8217; standards. Obama got more than 95% of the vote from black women. Hillary Clinton got 94%. So if anything, there&#8217;s some evidence that endorsements like this aren&#8217;t really helping, even among Democrats&#8217; most loyal constituency.
The Guardian certainly seems to think there&#8217;s a good chance these endorsements aren&#8217;t helping anywhere. They just ran a big article that explores the question of why all these celebrities, from Bruce Springsteen to George Clooney to Taylor Swift, may have actually been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/nov/06/celebrity-endorsements-didnt-help-kamala-harris-taylor-swift-beyonce">counterproductive</a>: 
<blockquote>A poll from YouGov shortly after [Taylor] Swift’s endorsement found that only 8% of voters would be &#8216;somewhat&#8217; or &#8216;much more&#8217; likely to vote for Harris – with a surprising 20% saying the endorsement actually made them less likely to vote for her.</blockquote>
Yes, as we talked about at the time, Taylor Swift&#8217;s endorsement might have made people less likely to support Kamala Harris. And there&#8217;s evidence this took the Harris campaign by surprise. 
The article also <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/nov/06/celebrity-endorsements-didnt-help-kamala-harris-taylor-swift-beyonce">states</a>:
<blockquote>Back in July, Charli xcx posted a three-word tweet that some commentators thought might help swing the US election. Arriving the day after Kamala Harris announced her bid for the presidency, Charli’s tweet said simply: &#8216;Kamala IS Brat.&#8217; It was a reference to Charli’s latest album, Brat, which had dominated the pop cultural landscape &#8230; The overall meaning was clear: Kamala was the presidential candidate with the most energy and authenticity. &#8230;. The Harris campaign leaned into the endorsement, changing the backdrop of its official X page to the same garish green colour used on the record’s sleeve. &#8230; Yet as the dust settles on an extremely depressing election result, it appears clear that not only did Charli xcx’s tweet have no meaningful impact on the election result, nor did the endorsement of any celebrity.</blockquote>
This was a big problem for Kamala because, to the extent she had a campaign strategy at all, it hinged almost entirely on endorsements. Kamala was endorsed by all of the most famous celebrities in Hollywood and the music industry. It paid off with a crushing and historic defeat. Why might that be?
Unlike the panel on MSNBC, I&#8217;ll answer that question. For one thing, as I mentioned earlier, celebrity endorsements in general aren&#8217;t that effective anymore. But they&#8217;re particularly ineffective right now, when inflation is high and people are struggling to afford essentials. In an economic environment like that, Americans aren&#8217;t particularly interested in sermons from obscenely wealthy entertainers — not that they&#8217;re all that interested even in a good economy.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/?_gl=1*jtghwp*_gcl_au*ODQ1NjYzNTg2LjE3Mjg5MDk3OTE.*_ga*MTc2NzM0NDQ2NS4xNzI4OTA5Nzkx*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTczMDEyMDgwOS40OS4xLjE3MzAxMjA4MzkuMzAuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MATT WALSH&#8217;S &#8216;AM I RACIST?&#8217; NOW STREAMING ON DAILYWIRE+</a></h3>
The other problem is that the power of celebrity in general has been massively watered down in recent years. There are just so many of them that even the biggest ones (like Taylor Swift or Beyonce) don&#8217;t have the kind of culture-changing impact that Michael Jackson or Elvis had decades ago. When a woman can become famous by saying &#8220;Hawk Tuah,&#8221; the whole concept of a &#8220;celebrity&#8221; loses a lot of its luster. 
This has been obvious to everyone for some time, which is why a lot of celebrities have found new ways to endorse products, like those &#8220;reverse endorsement&#8221; deals that I mentioned. But apparently, it wasn&#8217;t obvious to the Kamala Harris campaign. They believed, in all seriousness, that amassing a bunch of these vapid, cookie-cutter endorsements would win them the election. They thought Americans cared so little about substance that they&#8217;d vote for a candidate who can barely articulate a coherent thought, all because of the endorsements of some other morons who also can&#8217;t articulate coherent thoughts. After what happened on Tuesday, there&#8217;s no one — except maybe MSNBC anchors — who seriously thinks that these celebrities have any sway over anyone anymore.

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