Taylor Swift has donated $50,000 to a GoFundMe supporting Ashley Taunton, a Connecticut mother of three who suffered life-threatening injuries while helping strangers after a car accident in Rhode Island.

Taunton, 42, a certified nursing assistant, was driving south on I-95 in July with her youngest daughter when she came upon a group of teenagers whose vehicle had hydroplaned in a rainstorm. She stopped to help move them to safety. While assisting, another car hydroplaned toward the group; Taunton pushed one of the teens out of the way and was struck herself, absorbing the impact. She has since undergone two major surgeries, with more scheduled, and her family says recovery could take up to a year.

Swift’s $50,000 gift, confirmed by Rolling Stone and People, is the largest single donation to the fundraiser, which had raised more than $64,000 as of Friday (Aug. 28); a separate Meal Train for the family has drawn over $16,000. Swift left a message for Taunton in the GoFundMe’s comments: “Wishing you the best recovery possible and sending love to your family! Taylor.”

The gesture continues a pattern for Swift, who has a long history of quietly funding GoFundMe campaigns for fans and strangers facing medical emergencies, including past donations to families affected by natural disasters and accidents. It also comes weeks after Swift and husband Travis Kelce donated $26 million across 20 U.S. charities ahead of their July wedding at Madison Square Garden.

Young Thug and his YSL Records surprise-dropped the Slime Language 3 double album late Friday (Aug. 28).

In addition to the YSL roster, the 41-track project also includes appearances from Lil Baby, Travis Scott, Future, Yeat, Trippie Redd, Cash Cobain, Veeze, Rob49 and more. Among the YSL vets and rookies onboard across the two-plus-hour album: Lil Keed, diamond*, Tezzus, Pz’, Sk8star, 1300SAINT, Yung Kayo, Biggs, iyrus, Yume, Lil Unky, Unfoonk and more.

Slime Language 3 is the latest in a trilogy of YSL compilation albums that started with 2018’s Slime Language and continued with 2021’s Slime Language 2. The series became progressively more popular, with the original project debuting at No. 8 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart, while the most recent entry topped that chart as well as Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.

The two biggest songs to come from Slime Language 2 were Young Thug and Gunna’s “Solid” (featuring Drake) and Young Thug and Gunna’s “Ski,” both top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100. Of course, Gunna is nowhere to be found on this new project, after fulfilling his contractual obligations to YSL with his 2025 album The Last Wun following a falling-out with Young Thug involving the RICO charges that plagued the label.

In October 2024, Young Thug was sentenced to 15 years’ probation and no prison time after pleading guilty in the criminal case accusing him of leading an Atlanta street gang. He released his first post-prison album, UY Scuti, in September 2025.

Listen to the double album and find the full track list below:

SIDE A:

SIDE B:

Getting singled out by Sacha Baron Cohen‘s most infamous character turned out to be good publicity, not an insult, for Ed Sheeran.

Cohen’s Ali G: Who Iz I?, due in theaters Oct. 23 via Amazon MGM, resurrects the fictional interviewer 24 years after his last film outing. The character narrates his own return in the trailer, listing everything that went wrong during his two decades away — wars, the pandemic, and Sheeran by name — before pivoting into the film’s premise: a “documentary” built from real interviews and unsuspecting public figures, in the spirit of Cohen’s late-’90s TV show.

Sheeran took the jab as an honor rather than a slight. “Tell 10-year-old me that Ali G would put him in his movie,” he wrote on Instagram. “Restecpa” — the character’s signature butchering of “respect,” first used in 2002’s Ali G Indahouse.

The film marks Cohen’s first time directing a feature himself, after previous Ali G and Borat projects were helmed by other directors. Production was kept under wraps entirely; Cohen reportedly showed up in character at Wimbledon this year without tipping off the film’s existence. The plot centers on Ali G discovering his girlfriend, played by Morgana Robinson, is pregnant after he resurfaces in the public eye.

Not every reaction has matched Sheeran’s good humor. The trailer has stirred real objections in the U.K., where critics and a cinema-boycott push have called out the character’s styling — dreadlocked wig, Rasta-style hat — as racial caricature that hasn’t aged well since Ali G’s original run.

Cohen built Ali G into a defining piece of British comedy before moving on to bigger disguises: Borat, Brüno, a Madonna video cameo, and eventually straight dramatic work in projects like The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Marvel’s Ironheart.

Cardi B took it to the streets of NYC for the gritty “AH HA” music video, but it cost more than she anticipated, as Cardi revealed the total price tag for shooting the visual was north of $1 million.

The Grammy-winning rapper hopped on Spaces on Thursday (Aug. 27), where Cardi detailed the exhausting process of getting permits in NYC and working with the NYPD, who she feels overcharged her throughout shooting the video because of her A-list celebrity status.

“I don’t understand how the f— this music video was expensive. I swear to God, I wanted this music video to be simple. I wanted a very street New York summer vibe,” she said. “A lot of artists do videos in the streets, that this video would be about $250,000. Bro, this video came out to be over a million.”

Cardi explained that she originally wanted to shoot the visual in her home borough of the Bronx, but ultimately was steered toward Sunset Park in Brooklyn.

“If you look at the video, it doesn’t even give that. Because I’m Cardi B, I be getting overcharged. To get permits, I know for a fact the average rapper that do music videos on blocks, it doesn’t cost that much. I really wanted to do my music video in a small block in the Bronx,” she added. “No, they made me do it in different places.”

Cardi continued: “To get permits, it was so expensive. I feel like they overcharged me for permits. They made it a big deal because I guess I’m Cardi B. It was about 40 NYPD cops, which made it impossible to motherf—ing shoot. NYPD was being so… They was just doing too much.”

The 33-year-old claimed this will be the last time she does a video shoot with fans being able to watch from a distance due to it being an open set, as she gets nervous with hundreds of onlookers.

“This will be the last time I ever do music videos in a public setting that I cannot get control. I was so overstimulated, I was so underwhelmed,” she said. “I did not enjoy doing this music video. … I’m not doing music videos in open settings ever again.”

“AH HA” served as Cardi’s first single of 2026, which arrived on July 31, while the music video was released nearly a month later on Friday (Aug. 28). The DJ SqanQo-produced hit debuted at No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 and currently sits at No. 40 on this week’s chart.

BLINKs, JENNIE is your fallen angel.

The South Korea-born, New Zealand-raised BLACKPINK star steps out on her own for Fallen Angel, the three-track digital EP that dropped as the clock struck midnight.

It’s a collection that comes “from a very personal place with the truest self-expression,” reads an announcement, posted just last week by Odd Atelier, the singer-actress’ own company and label. “A gift from JENNIE, with love.”

The gift, well, it’s unwrapped and available for streaming below. The title from Fallen Angel arrives with an official music video, a fairytale that could be inspired by the work of Tim Burton. It’s a balancing act of light and dark, of bonfires and flowers. Of butterflies and bad dreams. Poetry and pain. JENNIE is the connecting tissue. “Thorns may be the sharpest, fiercest thing on this earth,” we learn in the spoken word outro. “And yet, they bloom into the world’s most beautiful roses.”

The clip culminates in a fiery finale. But fear not, no one was set ablaze. A disclaimer accompanying the music video assures that all fire depicted in it was created using VFX (CG), and that “all scenes involving minors were filmed in a safe environment under appropriate supervision.” Good to know.

At the top, as a child is boxed in on a stage of warped little houses, we learn that “human greed has made them grow so heavy.” As the camera pulls back, we see a surreal foggy landscape, backed by domineering skyscrapers. Those bent dwellings have eyes. “But little one, close your eyes like I do,” that narrator explains, in Korean. “We can still fly. Free as can be.”

Fallen Angel collects the title track, plus “Heaven,” which the K-pop icon debuted last month when she headlined the final night of Open’er Festival in Gdynia, Poland; and “Less Than a Lover.”

“It’s a song I wrote thinking about summer,” she told the audience before performing “Less Than A Lover.” “It feels really special to share new music with this many people.” She added: “I really can’t wait to share this new music with you soon.”

Stream Fallen Angel below.

Billboard’s Friday Music Guide serves as a handy guide to New Music Friday’s most essential releases each week — the key music that everyone will be talking about today, and that will be dominating playlists this weekend and beyond.

Last week, we featured Sam Smith, Stella Lefty, Weezer and more.

This week, Olivia Rodrigo shares a previously-released-CD-exclusive song digitally; Alex Warren releases his second album; JENNIE’s three-track EP arrives; and Rod Wave drops his mega 24-track seventh album, Don’t Look Down… plus much more. Check out all of this week’s picks below:

Olivia Rodrigo, “Serena Joy”

Days before headlining her very own inaugural Daisy Chain Fields festival in Irvine, Calif., superstar Olivia Rodrigo dropped a new song (which was originally cut from her third album, this June’s You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love) that will surely make its way into her setlist. “Serena Joy” — named after the antagonist from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale novel — is expectedly inspired by the character’s complexities. And while the dystopian-sounding song ends with Rodrigo repeating “everything is just fine,” it’s unclear if she means it — or just wants to believe it. — LYNDSEY HAVENS

Alex Warren, WILDCHILD

Alex Warren’s second album swiftly follows last year’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid that included his breakout hit and Hot 100 No. 1 “Ordinary.” And while WILDCHILD does include some downtempo pop ballads (“Fine Place To Die,” “I Miss You More”), his signature soaring vocals are best highlighted on the album’s more punchy uptempo songs (“Fever Dream,” “Emerald Eyes”). As the project’s title implies, Warren is living it up a bit more this time around — or should I say, getting a bit wild by his standards — and as a result, sneaks in a final few summer smashes. — L.H.

JENNIE, Fallen Angel

Imagine the bite of “like JENNIE” only stripped down and ethereal — that’s “Heaven.” JENNIE sounds entirely self-assured on the song, even if she’s singing of a toxic relationship: “If not crazy, then what fun would it be?” The song accompanies the acoustic-led title track and previously-released single “Less than a Lover.” Fallen Angel is JENNIE’s first solo project since the release of her solo debut with last year’s full-length Ruby. — L.H.

Rod Wave, Don’t Look Down

The prolific rapper-singer-songwriter puts all three to their best use across his new album, tapping R&B singer-songwriter Summer Joy, R&B artist Luv Von, Irish singer-songwriter Aimee Carty and Australian indie-folk artist Hazlett as the project’s only features. Don’t Look Down is Rod Wave’s seventh album, having only released his debut full-length (Ghetto Gospel) in 2019. — L.H.

Billy Strings, So Much for Goodbyes

As Eric Renner Brown writes of the bluegrass virtuoso’s new album, it is “a profound meditation on grief inspired by the recent death of his mother.” As Strings shared himself in a statement along with the album’s announcement, he made the record to honor her: “To notice and embrace this very significant period of grief in my life and make art from it. To turn my heartbreak into songs while using my guitar as a coping mechanism as I always have. It’s always been there for me to lean on through the hard times, and I figure it always will… until it’s my time to say goodbye.” Read Billboard‘s tracks ranked here.

flowerovlove feat. Willow, “girls will be girls”

Rising indie-pop singer floweroflove shares her debut album, Mini Skirt Warrior, led by focus track “girls will be girls” with the project’s sole feature Willow. While the uptempo song is the album’s 12th and final, it’s also one of its standouts alongside previously-released singles like “American Wedding” and “I’m your first.” — L.H.

Alabama Shakes, I Must Be Dreaming

Grammy-winning bluesy rock band Alabama Shakes is back — and with its first album in over a decade. I Must Be Dreaming is the act’s first full-length since its breakout second album Sound & Color, which debuted atop the Billboard 200 upon its 2015 release. Previously-released single “Another Life” remains a standout for vocalist Brittany Howard’s urgent vocals, as does “Waist Deep.” The band is currently on tour through the end of September, with a date at Radio City Music Hall Sept. 2. — L.H.

Better late than never. More than six months after the 2026 Grammy Awards, where Jelly Roll insisted he would state his political views within the following week, he finally did so loudly and unequivocally during his last night guest hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live, ABC’s late-night talkshow.

Jelly Roll has been a headline-grabbing machine this week, from his sweet words about the late Dolly Parton to the backlash from MAGA and America’s network of conservative media when he roasted Donald Trump, more than once. During his monologue on Thursday evening (Aug. 27), Roll took the conversation even further.

Flashback to the Grammys on Feb. 1, a night when he won three golden gramophones. Backstage, Jelly told the press room that he was ready, willing and able to share his thoughts on the state of politics in his homeland.

“I have a lot to say about it and I’m going to in the next week. And everybody’s going to hear exactly what I have to say in the most loud and clear way I’ve ever spoken in my life. I look forward to it,” he said.

He prefaced that, in his own self-deprecating way, by saying that “people shouldn’t care to hear about my opinion, I’m a dumb redneck.” Then came nothing but silence.

“Can I get something off my chest,” he said on Kimmel. “For the last six months, I’ve watched people decide who I am, what I am, what I believe, what I support and what I don’t support. And I felt that even more this week, just because I told a couple of jokes. And honestly, this goes back further for me, y’all.”

This goes back to February this year, and the Grammys, a night where his dreams came true. “It was the single greatest moment and greatest honor of my career. I got called on that stage. I got handed my award that I’ve been dreaming about since I was a child. And immediately after, I was asked to make what I felt at the time was a political stands. I fumbled my words.”

Looking back, “I don’t necessarily regret asking for more time before I spoke. I wish more people took more time before they spoke. But I do wish I had found the words to express my heart just a little bit sooner. But I was afraid that anything I was going to say was going to be immediately taken as a political statement.” He continued, “Ironically, by trying so hard not to make a political statement, I became one. I spent my entire career trying not to belong to a political party. Partly because until March of this year, I wasn’t allowed to vote. But now that I have that right, it’s one I plan to exercise this coming November.”

This Nov. 3 is, of course, the midterm elections. Jelly Roll didn’t reveal which political party he registered with, but stressed he represents “those without representation… I’ve always tried to be a voice for the voiceless…I try to speak for the unspoken for. And that night at the Grammys, I had an opportunity to speak up for people who were scared, hurting and felt like nobody was speaking for them. I had a microphone and I didn’t use it the right way.” Choking back tears, he added, “My daddy always told me it is never too late to do the right thing.

“Human dignity isn’t Republican nor Democrat. Compassion isn’t left wing and mercy isn’t right wing. Pain and healing knows no partisanship. Hurting hearts are more important than poll numbers and there are no boundaries or borders for broken families.”

Roll admitted on Kimmel that he was a “man of second chances,” calling coming from his broken past, coming back and winning a Grammy “the American dream.”

He also stressed that he would shake the hand of any sitting president and his shaking Trump’s hand did not imply an endorsement, it simply showed respect for the office of the president.

Earlier in the week, Jelly quipped that he’d “lost an entire Donald Trump” when describing his own 300-pound weight loss and at one point joked, “Mr. President, from one fat pig to another, take it from me that physical fitness is very important.”

Later, after the right-wing raised a collective angry fist, he remarked: “We can debate whether this president is mentally fit, but I think we can all agree he is certainly not physically fit,” before introducing a parody commercial for a fake weight-loss drug called “Donjaro.”

Proving that his “fat-on-fat” jokes hit a soft spot, Florida Rep. Jimmy Patronis went on to say that, because of the singer teased Trump about his girth, Jelly Roll is unwelcome in the Florida Panhandle.

“I have joked all week all week long on this show about how I’m a convicted felon who was given the opportunity to change his life. And the fact is, that wasn’t a joke y’all,” he remarked on Thursday night. Jelly is on a roll. He’s living the dream. The American dream. “It can’t just be for people like me,” he insisted. “The American dream should be for everybody.”

Watch Jelly Roll’s monologue below.

The Empress of Soul is cutting back on her live load.

Gladys Knight, the 82-year-old R&B powerhouse, admits the time has come to focus on the next phase of her career, and wind back on concerts and touring.

“After much soul searching I’ve decided that I will be easing into fewer performances while focusing on transitioning into the next stage of my career and life moving forward,” she writes in a social media post.

“I’ll be spending more time on projects with my husband and visiting with my grandbabies and am looking forward to this new era.”

Knight’s decision comes after some performances that didn’t hit her high standards. Last month, Knight and Smokey Robinson performed at the Hollywood Bowl. While Robinson appeared to have not lost a step, Knight wasn’t her typical self.

“She relied heavily on her three back-up singers, who even took lead parts on occasion. She didn’t introduce them, or any of her six musicians, or speak to the audience in any meaningful way beyond banalities like ‘you’re so beautiful.’ She never mentioned Robinson,” Billboard’s Paul Grein reported from the scene. Sadly, Knight “barely got through this show, and only by leaning heavily on her backup singers. Artists need to know when it’s time to bow out gracefully.”

As the leader of Gladys Knight And The Pips, the legendary singer helped shape the sound of Motown in the 60’s and 70’s: “Midnight Train to Georgia” was a No. 1 hit and instant classic, but the soul act’s run extended long after that 1973 hit.

In recent years, Knight has been a regular on the awards circuit. She was saluted by the Recording Academy in 2024 with the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the previous year received the National Medals of Arts, the United States’ highest award given to artists and their patrons. Kennedy Center Honors came in 2022. Knight, along with her backing group, The Pips, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

“I’d like to take a moment, in advance, to thank all my fans over this last three quarters of a century for making a little girl’s dream come true and supporting her every step of the way,” her post continues.

“I am immensely grateful to all of you and send my eternal love back to you. I hope to see your smiling faces out and about and on the road. God bless all of you and hope to see you soon.”

See Gladys Knight’s post here.

We hope you like ice cream, because Snoop Dogg and his ice cream company Dr. Bombay is looking for an official taste tester.

Snoop has teamed up with global HR firm Deel to find the perfect candidate. The job is fully remote, pays an impressive $10,000 a month and anyone anywhere in the world can apply.

In a video posted to his social media, the rap legend made a call to action. “I’m hiring an international ice cream taster here at Dr. Bombay,” he said. “10 grand a month, you can apply anywhere in the world. Turns out going global is not that easy. See, I love the paper, but not the paperwork. But all that is handled by Deel, and who knows? If you keep it player, you might end up here with me. So, are you ready to be Dr. Bombay’s official ice cream taster? Then go to Deel.com/Snoop and apply.”

Dr. Bombay is known for their nostalgic flavors like Long Beach Fruit Cart, Sticky Caramel Apple Pie and Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

See below for the job description and what they’re looking for in the person they hire.

Job Description:

Requirements:

You can apply here.