Inside the quick rise and recent news surrounding the 20-year-old pop singer.
9/23/2025
Inside the quick rise and recent news surrounding the 20-year-old pop singer.
9/23/2025
The bodies of two Colombian musicians, who had been reported missing in Mexico for a week, were found on Monday (Sept. 22) in the State of Mexico, near Mexico City, according to a statement from local authorities.
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Música urbana artist Byron Sánchez and his music parter Jorge Herrera, known professionally as B-King and Regio Clown, were on tour in Mexico when they disappeared on Sept. 16. They were last seen in the upscale Polanco neighborhood in Mexico City.
In a statement, the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had launched an investigation into the case, gathering testimonies and video footage. Based on this evidence, they determined that the musicians were last located in the State of Mexico, prompting collaboration with the relevant authorities.
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“Thanks to this coordination, forensic services personnel from the Mexico State Attorney General’s Office compared the profiles of the missing persons and found matches with two deceased individuals who were located on September 17 in the municipality of Cocotitlán. In light of these facts, the Mexico State Attorney General’s Office is conducting a homicide investigation,” the statement said.
The statement noted that Sánchez’s family identified the musician’s body during a procedure at a regional prosecutor’s office in the State of Mexico.
A request for information sent by Billboard Español to the State of Mexico Prosecutor’s Office had not yet been answered.
“They murdered our youth in the United Mexican States,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro expressed in a message on X on Monday following the news of the discovery.
Asesinaron nuestra juventud en los Estados Unidos de MexicanosMafia internacional fortalecida por la estúpida politica militar y prohibicionista, llamada “guerra contra las drogas” a la que obligan a la humanidad y a América LatinaMás jovenes asesinados por una política…— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) September 22, 2025
Earlier, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that authorities in Mexico City and the foreign ministries of both countries were already working together on the case. This followed a message on X from her Colombian counterpart, Gustavo Petro, on Sunday, urging Mexican authorities to help locate their missing citizens.
During her morning press conference, Sheinbaum stated that Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office was already investigating the case. She clarified that a missing persons report had been filed with the Mexico City Prosecutor’s Office, not in Sonora, as Colombian President Gustavo Petro had initially mentioned.
“Thank you so much, my beautiful and beloved Mexico,” musician Byron Sánchez, 31, wrote in an Instagram post six days ago, accompanied by a video where he shared his excitement about performing his first concert in the country and his dream of succeeding there.
For now, authorities have not provided further details about the case, which has sparked outrage among fans and fellow artists of the two Colombian musicians on social media.
Amazon and other online retailers have recalled more than 500,000 products from their stores due to potential safety concerns that could be deadly to people, including infants and children.
Various products have been recalled in recent weeks, with five Amazon items, ranging from children’s toys and baby loungers to portable charger banks and mist fans, being removed due to the potential safety risks they could pose to consumers, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Newsweek.
The following items sold through online marketplaces are now recalled, and here’s what customers should know moving forward.
Anker Power Banks
On Thursday, Anker recalled about 481,000 lithium-ion power banks due to overheating risks that can cause fires and burns. The recall includes models A1647, A1652, A1257, A1681 and A1689, sold between January and July 2024.
According to reports, the CPSC received 33 reports of fire and explosion incidents, including four burn injuries and property damage.
Anker advised consumers to stop using the affected items immediately and visit Anker’s recall page to check serial numbers and register for a refund or gift card.
Anker has provided safe return and disposal instructions for them to follow, which include not disposing of the batteries in household trash or recycling; instead, they should contact local hazardous waste centers for safe disposal.
LXDHSTRA Baby Loungers and Crib Bumpers
Chinese retailer LXDHSTRA recalled approximately 360 baby loungers sold on Amazon between May and August 2025 on Thursday due to serious safety violations that could result in serious injuries and infant death.
The affected products were removed from the site due to severe safety and health concerns, including suffocation, entrapment, and fall hazards, as well as banned crib bumpers that pose breathing risks.
No injuries have been reported. Consumers are advised to stop using the products, follow the instructions to destroy them, and contact LXDHSTRA by emailing [email protected] to request a full refund, submitting photos of the destroyed items.
YooxArmor Kids’ Helmets
About 1,780 children’s bicycle helmets were recalled on Thursday for failing to meet the mandatory safety standards, posing a risk of head injury or death in the event of a crash.
No injuries have been reported. However, consumers should stop using them immediately, cut off the straps to destroy the helmet, and contact YooxArmor by emailing [email protected] with photos of the destroyed product to receive a full refund.
Youbeien Crib Mobiles
Around 3,000 Youbeien crib mobile toys, sold through Amazon by GKKBSJ, were recalled on Thursday for violating mandatory standards for toys. The remotes for the products contain accessible button batteries, posing a serious ingestion and burn hazard for children.
No injuries have been reported. Consumers should stop using the toys, dispose of the product or just the remote as instructed, and email photos to GKKBSJ via [email protected] to receive a full refund or a partial refund if only the remote is returned. Button batteries should be disposed of in accordance with local guidelines for the disposal of hazardous waste.
IcyBreeze Misting Fans
IcyBreeze has recalled 22,600 portable misting fans on Thursday due to overheating while in use, posing a fire hazard.
Consumers should stop using the fan immediately, submit an online form with a photo showing the power cord has been cut, and dispose of the fan safely to receive a $150 credit, redeemable at participating Solo Brands locations.
What is Amazon saying?
The online retailer shared a statement on its recall page about the now-removed items.
“Our Product Safety Team proactively investigates and addresses reported safety complaints and incidents to ensure customer protection from potential product-related safety risks. We closely monitor public recall alert websites and receive notifications from vendors and sellers. Upon discovering a product recall, we immediately halt affected product offerings, and promptly inform both customers and sellers involved about the recall. For more information visit our Safety Information, Recalls and Legal Notices Page,” the statement reads.
Colin Kaepernick will be covering the cost for a second and independent autopsy of Demartravion “Trey” Reed, a student at Delta State University who was found hanging from a tree last Monday.
Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp Autopsy Initiative provides free of charge second autopsies for those whose family or friends have died in police custody or under suspicious circumstances. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who was hired by Reed’s family, said that the autopsy will be conducted as soon as Reed’s body is released by the state medical examiner.
Reed’s family raised concerns about ‘incomplete information’
“Trey’s death evoked the collective memory of a community that has suffered a historic wound over many, many years and many, many deaths. Peace will come only by getting to the truth. We thank Colin Kaepernick for supporting this grieving family and the cause of justice and truth,” Crump said in a Friday press release.
He added that Reed’s family had raised concerns after “receiving conflicting accounts and incomplete information about the circumstances of his death.”
The family has also asked law enforcement to release video footage in connection with Reed’s death. Delta State’s Director of Public Safety said on Wednesday that it was investigating security footage, according to Mother Jones.
“Trey’s family deserves answers they can trust,” Crump wrote in a statement. “We cannot accept rushed conclusions when the stakes are this high.”
What is the latest update on the investigation regarding Trey Reed’s death?
The Mississippi Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Reed’s death as a suicide on Thursday. It found that “the cause of death to be hanging and the manner of death as suicide,” according to the Cleveland Police Department.
The final toxicology reports are currently pending and may take two to four weeks to complete, WREG reported. All files and investigative materials were turned over to the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for review as part of the investigation.
Reed’s family has expressed concern regarding the way in which law enforcement and the university has communicated about his death. Media outlets started reporting on Reed’s death prior to the family’s knowledge of the incident. As Blavity reported, Reed’s family was originally told that he had been found in his dorm room, only to find out later that he had been found hanging from a tree at the center of campus.
Kehlani and SZA aren’t fans of the recent signing of the first Artificial Intelligence music artist to sign a record deal.
As AI continues to advance, questions arise about the kinds of changes and impact the technology will have. As our sister site AfroTech reported, an AI R&B artist known as Xania Monet is shaking up the music industry after news spread like wildfire that she recently signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Hallwood Media.
Following the reveal, artists are speaking out on why this isn’t a great move for the music industry.
How are artists like Kehlani and SZA reacting to AI artist Xania Monet’s record deal?
Kehlani was one of the first singers to publicly share her feelings about why Xania Monet’s recording contract is unfair, because a computerized public figure does no real “work.”
“There is an AI R&B artist who just signed a multi-million dollar deal and has a top five R&B album, and the person is doing none of the work,” Kehlani said in a recorded video shared by The Shade Room. “I think you guys think that AI can just be the cover for something, which some people can use. They can make an AI cover.”
She continued, noting that she will never support the new wave of AI vocalists: “AI can also make the entire f**king song. It can sing the entire song. It can make the entire beat. You can have a song that’s one type of song and say, ‘AI, make this into a country song,’ and it will literally rewrite [and] re-sing in a country voice and redo the entire thing. And they don’t ever have to credit anyone. This is so beyond out of our control and nothing and no one on earth will be able to justify AI to me.”
Fans agreed with Kehlani’s stance. “AI needs to be banned at this point. Like it’s extremely scary,” one person commented.
“This is very weird! Nobody listening to not AI artist,” another person chimed in.
“I won’t be supporting no AI music. Matter of fact, this the last time I’m commenting on this foolishness,” someone else wrote.
SZA also expressed her concerns on her Instagram stories about AI, noting that the technology already causes “harm” to marginalized neighborhoods.
“Hey I hate AI. If you f**k w me PLEASE don’t make any AI images of me or songs. Ppl and children are dying from the harm n pollution AI energy centers are creating,” she wrote, according to The Shade Room. “A stupid photo is not worth polluting and harming the underserved communities. Thank you.”
“Ps. PLEASE KNOW EVERY TIME U USE OR PROMPT AI SOMEONE IN a forgotten community IS SUFFERING ❤️ eventually the effects will reach everyone,” she added. “By then it’ll be too late. Bless.”
In an Instagram Story, SZA also questioned whether the industry would devalue other genres.
How did Xania Monet land a record deal?
The AI musician was created by Mississippi-based songwriter Talisha Jones, who is also a poet and manages a design studio. Although she’s not the voice behind Xania Monet, she’s the lyricist behind the rising artificial singer’s original hit singles “How Was I Supposed to Know” and “Let Go, Let God,” both of which landed on Billboard lists.
Billboard published an article that stated “How Was I Supposed to Know” landed at No. 1 on R&B Digital Song Sales the week of Sept. 20 and at No. 3 on R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales during the same week. Simultaneously, “Let Go, Let God” hit No. 21 on the Hot Gospel Songs chart.
Outside her own skills, Jones utilized the platform Suno AI. The AI music generator tool is backed by Timbaland, who serves as its strategic advisor, according to AfroTech. The legendary producer has been open about supporting the integration of AI and music to the extent that he launched his new label, Stage Zero. As reported by VICE, this creative AI-powered record label combines human and AI elements. When the record company was launched, Timbaland signed his first AI artist “TaTa” and hopes to develop new music genres like “AI Pop.”
During an interview on The Inner Court podcast in March, Timbaland mentioned that the 2024 presidential election has left a “soulless” gap in music concerning new artists and music, which is why he sees AI as a benefit to the industry.
“You could feel the pressure of the dividedness, and I hate that. This whole election divided us,” Timbaland explained, per VICE. “What I mean by that is it divided the music. The music sounds bland, it sounds boring—it lacks excitement. While we frequently discuss AI, I believe it’s the only entity that embodies a genuine soul right now. It allows for the expression of true feelings, resulting in it coming out beautiful.”
“I feel like right now everything is discombobulated,” he added. “Which aligns with everything in the world. Ain’t no song right now—and y’all gotta admit—that’s grabbing you. Ain’t no theme song for people’s [lives].”
Farm Aid 40, held Saturday (Sept. 20) in Minneapolis and headlined by founding musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young, is expected to be the most successful benefit for family farmers by the organization in many years, as sales of 36,232 tickets at Huntington Bank Stadium are added to contributions solicited on air during a five-plus-hour broadcast of the event on CNN.
But for Neil Young, it won’t be enough.
“It’s one of the highlights of my life to have been part of this,” said Young, flanked by Nelson and Mellencamp, and joined by fellow Farm Aid board members Dave Matthews and Margo Price, at Farm Aid’s morning press conference.
“That said, there’s one thing that really strikes me about this day. And what I would like to say is, we need money so we can give it to the farmers and support the farmers. And we need to get it from these big corporations and billionaires that have taken all the farmers’ land or a great portion of it.”
“We want donations from them,” said Young. “Huge donations to Farm Aid. We don’t want to give them favors. They bought hundreds and thousands of acres of farmland in this country as investments. And they’re living the good life. They need to stand up and pay a conscience tax to the farmers of America!”
The 40th anniversary of Farm Aid and its mission — to build and strengthen a family farm-centered agricultural system in America that values family farmers, good food, soil, water, climate and strong communities — was celebrated Saturday with more than 12 hours of music.
In addition to Farm Aid’s board members, the remarkable bill included: Bob Dylan, Kenny Chesney, Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Lukas Nelson, Trampled by Turtles, Wynonna Judd, Steve Earle, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles, Madeline Edwards and the Wisdom Indian Dancers.
When Willie Nelson launched Farm Aid in 1985, amid an economic crisis that was forcing family farms into bankruptcy, the organization recognized that the nation’s agriculture system was suffering from the consolidation of economic power and rise of corporate control. Forty years on, the same corporate forces affect almost every aspect of American life, from health care to housing to its news media.
Farmers, growing the nation’s food, saw the storm clouds first.
“We were kids when we started this thing,” said Mellencamp at the press conference. “We were young kids and we had ideals. We were so naive that we thought we would do one show and they’d pay attention to us.”
“Willie and I went to Washington, in front of the Senate subcommittee on farming. Willie talked and I talked and some f—ing senator stood up and goes, ‘Where’s your guys’ guitars?’ I looked at Willie and I said, ‘Let’s get the hell outta here.’”
The tone in Washington, D.C., has hardly improved over Farm Aid’s 40 years. It weighed on Margo Price’s mind before her performance.
“It’s so important for us to come together, right now, in America,” she said. “We’re being divided. We’re being distracted. Our voices are being silenced. And apathy isn’t it. They want us to be overwhelmed. They want us to be fighting with each other so we don’t realize that it’s the people in power that are making all of these things terrible. We have to use our voice while we still have it. Shared struggle builds solidarity and hope is an act of resistance. Keep fighting.”
“Shared struggle” is the perfect way to describe Farm Aid’s forty years of activism to support family farmers. With fans traveling from cities or farms, red states or blue states, Farm Aid on Saturday night in Minneapolis may well have been the most politically diverse — yet unified — place in America.
Here are best things we saw and heard at Farm Aid 40:
Showing Up Early
Harry Styles ran the Berlin Marathon in under three hours on Sunday (Sept. 21). Organizers confirmed to news agency dpa that Styles took part. Local newspaper Der Tagesspiegel was the first to report his participation. The 31-year-old former member of boy band […]
“Gala,” the new single from XG, tops this week’s fan-voted music poll.
Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Sept. 19) on Billboard, choosing the septet’s fresh track as their favorite new release.
“Gala” made its grand entrance during a week that also saw new releases streaming in from Cardi B, RAYE, Miley Cyrus, Lola Young and more, with the fashion-focused tune bringing in 65% of the vote.
“Gala” is the pre-release single from JURIN, CHISA, HINATA, HARVEY, JURIA, MAYA and COCONA’s long-awaited debut studio album, which arrives on Jan. 23, 2026. The group first teased the album release date in early September.
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“This song was mainly inspired by the iconic Met Gala,” XG’s MAYA recently told The Hollywood Reporter, adding, “We tried so many new things, choreography wise, music wise and fashion wise, so we’re really excited to showcase that. I feel like this song is really XG.”
HARVEY explained to THR, “I think it’s fair to say that we’ve grown a lot since we first debuted, but personally I think we became a lot more fearless when it comes to challenging ourselves to new things. Especially with ‘Gala,’ I think we can see that come into play fully. We’ve challenged ourselves to try many different dances and a new sense of fashion that we haven’t done before to become bolder. In that sense, I think we’ve seen ourselves come a long way.”
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“We tried voguing, break dancing and some acrobatics this time,” COCONA added in the group’s chat. “It was very, very hard to learn, but a great experience for us, and we wanted to make ‘Gala’ feel more like a show.”
Among the new releases trailing behind “Gala” on this week’s poll are Cardi B’s Am I the Drama?, with 4% of the vote, followed by RAYE’s “Where Is My Husband?” and Miley Cyrus’ “Secrets.”
See the final results of this week’s poll below.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, criticized the Trump administration’s plan to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Democratic-led cities, comparing the strategy to antebellum slave patrols.
Crockett likens the Trump administration’s ICE raids to ‘slave patrols’
Crockett candidly discussed the issue with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi on Sunday, stating that sending federal agents into these cities does not improve public safety. She also drew parallels between Trump’s deployment of militarized police and the Southern “slave patrol” tactic, where white men would hunt down escaped enslaved people, Black Enterprise reported.
“As somebody who understands history, when I see ICE, I see slave patrols,” Crockett told Velshi during the interview.
She continued, “But as somebody who understands history, when I see slave patrols — now, I never lived through the slave patrol period — but if you know the history of policing in this country, then you understand that they were born out of slave patrols. And now with the Supreme Court saying this, it’s almost like you can just go grab them up.”
Crimes by white supremacists vs. crimes by undocumented immigrants
The administration has focused on cracking down on migrant crime nationwide. The recent death of 20-year-old Kayla Hamilton, who was sexually assaulted and strangled by an undocumented immigrant, drew renewed attention from conservative leaders. But Crockett said white supremacists commit murders at far higher rates than undocumented immigrants.
“None of us want to be unsafe. Yeah, but we’re not looking at the facts,” Crockett said. “We’re not look at the fact that immigrants, regardless of how many times you’re going to cherry-pick and say, ‘Well, there was this one immigrant that was here illegally, and they ended up killing this one person.’ Well, for every immigrant that you have an example of, I’ll raise you at least two to five white supremacists, if not more, right?”
The congressperson also criticized a recent Supreme Court decision that permits federal agents to broadly target immigrants in Los Angeles, warning it could allow people to be questioned simply for speaking Spanish, per Black Enterprise. She said the ruling highlights the importance of Americans understanding Black history and how these acts have been done before.
“It’s almost like you can just go grab them up — that is what they’re saying. And that is a problem,” Crockett said. “We all should have a problem with that. But when you don’t want to teach American history, that includes Black history, then you lose out on the benefit of understanding that we have been down this road before, and it was not good, and we fixed it once, and it is a shame that we are relitigating this and we are going to have to fix it again.”
Crockett has been very vocal in criticizing Trump and his administration on immigration, the economy and the financial strain on the American people, as well as safety for lawmakers and other issues.
Watch the full interview below:
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A former teacher of Celeste Rivas, the 15-year-old girl whose remains were found in an impounded Tesla registered to singer D4vd, is sharing details about the victim.
What did the teacher say about Celeste Rivas?
The science teacher shared a photo on his phone of himself and Rivas with his class. They were standing in front of a poster hung in the classroom, according to a video obtained by TMZ and Complex.
Another image has since surfaced during this investigation, showing D4vd just 0.3 miles away from the area where Rivas used to live before she vanished. The educator also said that the other person in the photo was another former student he had taught years ago.
In the video, the unidentified teacher told the students that Rivas had been missing since she was part of his class. Although there is no information available about the other student, the educator stated that both teens were his students when he taught at Lakeland Village Middle School in Lake Elsinore, California. He no longer works at that school.
Celeste Rivas had two runaway attempts, according to her former teacher
The teacher continued, stating that after Rivas had met D4vd, she had initially run away from home but was later returned by the police.
“When I taught her, she met this dude on social media. He was a rapper in LA,” he said in the video, referring to Rivas and D4vd. “He came and got her. She ran away from home. She was gone for, like, a month. The cops found her in Hollywood [and] brought her back to our school.”
“She came back to our school, kinda told people this story,” he added. “She disappeared again in May of that year, May of 2024.”
As Complex reported, “the teenager had a “Shhh” tattoo on her right index finger, which the singer also sports on the same location.”
When did police identify the body of Celeste Rivas?
After her second disappearance, the teacher said that was the last he had heard about her until recently finding out that the human remains found in the vehicle had belonged to her. He confirmed with TMZ that during the time Rivas was in his class, she was consistently absent, and he had no prior knowledge about her life.
While teaching at a school in Southern California, the educator said that sharing that information with his students helped inform them about the dangers of meeting people they had met online, per TMZ.
As Blavity reported, police identified Rivas, whose body was found inside a bag in the trunk of the vehicle on Sept. 8 at the Hollywood Tow car lot in Los Angeles on Wednesday. The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office listed the official cause of death as “deferred.”
On Friday, it was announced that D4vd’s tour had been canceled amid the investigation.
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