Peter Berry
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Articles by Peter Berry
Why Giannis Antetokounmpo Could Make $82 Million More by Delaying Contract Extension
Giannis Antetokounmpo on what the Miami Heat needs to work on Getty Getty They say good things come to those who wait. In the case of Giannis Antetokounmpo, it's a chance to add an additional year and $82 million to his next big contract. According to a Tuesday (Oct. 13) Giannis Antetokounmpo contract report from ESPN's Bobby Marks, the Miami Heat superstar has been eligible for a two- or three-year extension worth $135 million and $194 million, respectively, since Oct. 1. So why the hold-up?
Mother dead after police say she and her 8-month-old were pushed from 15th floor Bronx balcony
Follow Mother dead after police say she and her 8-month-old were pushed from 15th floor Bronx balcony Tue, October 6, 2026 at 10:02 PM EDT Mother dead after police say she and her 8-month-old were pushed from 15th floor Bronx balcony Key takeawaysPowered by Yahoo Scout. Yahoo is using AI to generate key points from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Karl-Anthony Towns thinks he's worth more money than Knicks offered him. And he's right.
Key Takeaways Trending Karl-Anthony Towns said on Oct. 5 that the outlook for his Knicks contract extension “don't look good.” The Knicks reportedly offered four years/$200M; he can receive up to four years/$276M. His production/title contribution is the case for giving him more despite apron concerns. While it can feel like cap, the phrase “you get what you pay for” has stuck around long enough to become a cliche for a reason. And when it comes to the NBA, it's usually true.
Zohran Mamdani's new artist grant increase will make it easier than ever for you to get your bars off
Follow Zohran Mamdani's new artist grant increase will make it easier than ever for you to get your bars off Mon, October 5, 2026 at 11:19 PM EDT Zohran Mamdani's new artist grant increase will make it easier than ever for you to get your bars off Key takeawaysPowered by Yahoo Scout. Yahoo is using AI to generate key points from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.
Never heard 'Choosin' Texas'? Consider that a wake-up call
Music fans and journalists who spent the last few months looking for the song of the summer faced a plot twist fit for Hollywood: The winner was a single released last October. Billboard announced last week that Ella Langley's "Choosin' Texas" had secured the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 chart for the 23rd week, breaking the record held by Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Yet for a song that had achieved such extraordinary chart dominance, "Choosin' Texas" hardly felt inescapable.
Commentary: Never heard 'Choosin' Texas'? Consider that a wake-up call
Music fans and journalists who spent the last few months looking for the song of the summer faced a plot twist fit for Hollywood: The winner was a single released last October. Billboard announced last week that Ella Langley’s "Choosin’ Texas" had secured the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 chart for the 23rd week, breaking the record held by Mariah Carey’s "All I Want for Christmas Is You." Yet for a song that had achieved such extraordinary chart dominance, "Choosin’ Texas" hardly felt inescapable.
Never Heard 'Choosin' Texas'? Consider That a Wake-Up Call
Photographer: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America (Bloomberg Opinion) -- Music fans and journalists who spent the last few months looking for the song of the summer faced a plot twist fit for Hollywood: The winner was a single released last...
AI’s New Telco Compliance Challenge: Who Is Accountable When Systems Make Decisions Themselves? Featured
AI is moving from a tool that supports telecom employees to a technology that can increasingly make decisions and take action on their behalf: automating customer interactions, optimising networks, analysing data and streamlining internal processes. But as AI systems and agents gain greater autonomy, the compliance question becomes harder to answer: when a system makes a decision without a human directing every step, who is accountable for the outcome? The answer cannot simply be “the AI”.
Diamond* Reflects on the Songs That Shaped His Career Original
Define Me: Diamond* Interview: Peter A. Berry Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. In an Atlanta rap scene that has suffered serious losses in recent years, Diamond* has emerged as one of the city’s most exciting new artists.
Odeal on How Common Shaped the Way He Writes His Songs and Why J Dilla Is the G.O.A.T. Original
Tunnel Vision Genre-blending artist Odeal breaks down the hip-hop influences that helped shape his sound. Interview: Peter A. Berry Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. Odeal’s music reflects his life journey. Born in Germany and raised between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, the singer-songwriter and producer draws inspiration from sounds spanning the Black music diaspora, from Afrobeats to R&B.
A Look at the Lasting Legacy of the 2016 XXL Freshman Class
National Treasures Take a look back at the group that helped shape a generation: 2016 XXL Freshman Class. As Told To: Peter A. Berry Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. Sometimes, immortality looks like a statue. Or maybe a jersey hanging from the rafters of a sports arena. In the era of the extremely online, it can also look like a photo-realistic tattoo of a YouTube screenshot.
A Look at the Lasting Legacy of the 2016 XXL Freshman Class
National Treasures Take a look back at the group that helped shape a generation: 2016 XXL Freshman Class. As Told To: Peter A. Berry Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. Sometimes, immortality looks like a statue. Or maybe a jersey hanging from the rafters of a sports arena. In the era of the extremely online, it can also look like a photo-realistic tattoo of a YouTube screenshot.
Swae Lee Gets Candid on AI, Drake's Three-Album Drop and Why Rap Groups Are No Longer The Norm
Say What's Real Swae Lee gets candid about some of music's hottest topics, from AI's impact on creativity to Drake's recent three-album drop. Words: Peter A. Berry Editor's Note: This story appears in the Summer 2026 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. If hip-hop had a Hookman of the Year award, Swae Lee would have at least a few trophies. Since emerging with Rae Sremmurd 12 years ago, the 33-year-old Tupelo, Miss.
Ako sa z Drakea stal Netflix hip-hopu
Keď Drake v jeden deň vydal tri nové albumy - Iceman, Maid of Honour a Habibti, niektorí kritici tvrdili, že ide o zúfalý pokus zvýšiť svoj význam a podporiť počty streamov či predaj albumov. Pre náročnejších fanúšikov, ktorí túžili po pätnásťskladbovom albume bez jedinej skladby, ktorú by bolo treba preskakovať, to bol len prejav nenásytného preháňania.
How Drake Became the Netflix of Hip-Hop
Photographer: Amy Sussman/Getty Images North America (Bloomberg Opinion) -- When Drake released three new albums — , , and on the same day, some critics argued it was a desperate move to increase his relevance and boost his streams and album sales.
Commentary: Lupita Nyong’o can’t play Helen of Troy? That’s odd
Elon Musk, steadfast guardian of all things truthful and scientific, has once again criticized director Christopher Nolan. Months after saying Nolan had “lost his integrity” following speculation that the director selected Black actress Lupita Nyong’o to play Helen of Troy in his forthcoming epic, "The Odyssey," Musk returned to the subject on X.
Commentary: Billboard’s AI music problem is obvious — so is the fix
For strict institutional gatekeepers, Billboard has been quite lax about allowing fake artists on its charts. By November, several AI performers were featured, including country music’s Breaking Rust and R&B’s Xania Monet. It’s the kind of casual absurdity that AI music startups like Suno are hoping will become, well, casual. kAm“%96 E649?@=@8J 7:?2==J 2==@HD 7@C 3:==:@?D @7 A6@A=6 E@ 36 4C62E:G6[ E@ 92G6 E96 7CF:ED @7 E96:C =23@C[ E@ 766= 7F=7:==>6?E :?
Drake’s ‘Iceman’ Is Exactly the Fun and Vindictive Comeback Record He Needed: Album Review
Toward the beginning of his new song “Janice STFU,” Drake conducts one of his customary exercises in emo theater: “You say what my work means to me will one day be the death of me / They tried to kill me once, but, darling, you just resurrected me.” It feels melodramatic, but this time, it’s fair enough.
Billboard’s AI music problem is obvious — so is the fix
For strict institutional gatekeepers, Billboard has been quite lax about allowing fake artists on its charts. By November, several AI performers were featured, including country music’s Breaking Rust and R&B’s Xania Monet. It’s the kind of casual absurdity that AI music startups like Suno are hoping will become, well, casual.
Every Drake Album, Ranked From Worst to Best
Today, ahead of his Iceman album. Okayplayer ranks Drake’s projects from absolute worst to best. As Drake says himself, they love to tell stories ’bout the man. So it’s a good thing that no one tells that tale better than the 6ix God himself. Since emerging with So Far Gone 17 years ago, Drizzy has used Bridget Jones' introspection, Simone Biles' agility and Stephen Curry's range to dominate the music industry like prime LeBron James.
Commentary: Billboard's AI music problem is obvious - so is the fix
For strict institutional gatekeepers, Billboard has been quite lax about allowing fake artists on its charts. By November, several AI performers were featured, including country music's Breaking Rust and R&B's Xania Monet. It's the kind of casual absurdity that AI music startups like Suno are hoping will become, well, casual.
Billboard’s AI Music Problem Is Obvious — So Is the Fix
Photographer: Ian Waldie/Getty Images Europe (Bloomberg Opinion) -- For strict institutional gatekeepers, Billboard has been quite lax about allowing fake artists on its charts.
Rate It Or Love It
Credit: XXL via YouTube Before writing this introductory article, I had a little housekeeping matter to consider: Do I or don’t I delete my now two-point-something-year-old “Coming Soon” post. If you made it here in the first place, you’ll see it conspicuously nestled below this piece and the first Rate It Or Love It. It was uploaded all the way back on Jan. 23, 2024. On one hand, it’s kind of embarrassing that it took me so long to get an actual post up.
Monica Is Jack Harlow’s Identity Crisis. It’s Also His Best Album.
About eight years ago, Jack Harlow trolled the fuck out of me. Or, at least, it felt like he did. Visiting XXL’s midtown Manhattan office for a video freestyle, pre-glow-up Jack — glasses, unwieldy curly hair and all — sat down in our video room with his publicist for a listening session. The point was obviously for him to play me his music so I could get a sense of where he was headed artistically. So then, I was a little … bewildered when he began playing Frank Ocean instead.
With F.I.G , Naomi Scott Is Finally Her Own Director
Midway through our February afternoon chat, Naomi Scott asks the sort of question that, frankly, should be unaskable: "What is she, where do we place her?" She's referring to herself, but she's speaking from the perspective of composite audiences and Hollywood execs trying to classify a half-Indian, half-white actress playing American roles.
Nobody Does It Quite Like Baby Keem, and No One’s Even Tried
Pigeons & Planes is all about music discovery, supporting new artists, and delivering the best music curation online and IRL. We're always listening. Pigeons & Planes is all about music discovery, supporting new artists, and delivering the best music curation online and IRL. We're always listening. Pigeons & Planes is all about music discovery, supporting new artists, and delivering the best music curation online and IRL. We're always listening.
'The Fall-Off' And How J. Cole Became Rap's Bradley Cooper
In the cruel eternity of the internet, no one gets a consolation prize for taking an L on national TV. Not even bright-eyed Bradley Cooper. After spending six years practicing one particular conductor symphony scene and donning an abominable prosthetic mask for the Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, Cooper found himself on the losing end of the Oscar race for Best Actor and a series of jokes labeling an awards season clout-chaser. We can't know for sure, but there's a chance J.
A$AP Rocky steps back into the arena, all the wiser, on the ambitious 'Don't Be Dumb': Album review
It's hard to make being Rihanna's rich, handsome boyfriend sound lame, but Drake managed to do just that on "Family Matters." Taking a moment to turn his focus from Kendrick Lamar to ASAP Rocky, the Toronto rapper accused the Harlem native of being relevant for his fashion sense instead of his mic skills: "Probably gotta have a kid again fore you think of droppin' any s**t again / Even when you do drop, they gon' say you should've modeled 'cause it's mid again." It's reductive, but fair.
How Hurricane Wisdom Turned Hard Times Into Hit Records Original
Show & Prove: Hurricane Wisdom Words: Peter A. Berry Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Fall 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. Hurricane Wisdom’s name sounds like the result of some deep spiritual introspection or maybe a moniker for a shady fortune teller. But, like the best rap names, its inspiration is decidedly functional; a nod to a hairstyle he had as a teen. “I had waves in high school,” he explains on a humid August day via Zoom.
Singer Isaiah Falls Talks Kendrick Lamar and Kodak Black Influencing His Music and Nipsey Hussle Being One of the Greatest of All Time Original
Let Em Know: Isaiah Falls Interview: Peter A. Berry Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Fall 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. Since the release of his debut EP, The Private Room, in 2023, singer Isaiah Falls has established himself as a master of sultry, nocturnal R&B, making his music perfect for the bedroom or late-night drives to after parties.
Chance The Rapper Reclaims His Narrative Without the Revenge Tour - 'I Made A Lot of People Who Loved Me Happy' Original
If Chance The Rapper is experiencing a career redemption arc, it’s unclear whether he recognizes it. On August 15, the release date of his sophomore album, Star Line, he joins a Zoom call from his hometown of Chicago. This album marks his first major release since his 2019 debut LP, The Big Day, which did not perform well, commercially. As a result, there is a lot at stake for him.
For Better And Sometimes Worse, Dave's New Album Takes You To Church
If Dave were a lazy self-mythologizer instead of a meticulous craftsman, he could’ve just called his new album Confession. Over the course of the 48-minute LP — which is actually titled The Boy Who Played The Harp — the 27-year-old Londoner turns stanzas into tense self-interrogations, exploring themes of regret and personal evolution with the unsparing clarity of a wise but mercifully unpretentious clergyman.
Lebron James Has a Sciatica Injury - Here’s What it Feels Like Original
Usually, LeBron James is spending late October defying Father Time. Instead, he’s appearing in tasteless Hennessy ads and sitting stiff as a mannequin on the Lakers bench. The King is suffering from sciatica, a nerve condition that causes pain and numbness to run through your back and to your leg. Subtle, yet intermittently debilitating, it’s the type of injury anyone can get. Especially if you’re older. It’s not as much about what you feel, as much as what you don’t. At least, at first.
New Album 'Boiling Point,' Cash Money Reunion Tour, & More
Anytime you can be a benchmark for celebrity fitness is probably pretty cool. Or, at least I thought. Standing on the sidewalk about 70 feet away from SiriusXM’s Manhattan offices, Juvenile’s just told me he needs to get his ass back in the gym, motioning to his stomach before pointing to my own gut to make his point. “I’m getting a ‘you.'” Of course, l’m really handsome and amazing, so I laugh it off and don’t silently commit to walking two miles home today. It’s no big deal.
R&B's Breakout Star Sailorr Explores Her Rap Fandom and Creates the Ultimate Rapper With Veeze in Mind Original
Sailorr As an emerging alt-R&B star with meaningful creative roots in hip-hop, Sailorr is starting to bubble. Interview: Peter A. Berry Editor’s Note: This story appears in the Summer 2025 issue of XXL Magazine, on newsstands now and available for sale on the XXL website. Sailorr may be a rising queen of alt-R&B, but she’s certified rap head as much as anything else.
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