Celebrating the release of the album, 'I Forgive You,' the one and only Cynthia Erivo joins us inside the Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In. The GRAMMY, Emmy, and Tony award-winning artist's sophomore effort shows her more vulnerable than ever, from the bare cover to the passionate and open music within.

Carefully curated by Cynthia herself, 'I Forgive You,' features co-writing from Erivo on every track and is filled with captivating vocals and relentless talent. Split into 4 unique sections, Erivo explores "a breakup, something new, the deepening of a connection, and acceptance," on the new album.

"I'm feeling excited about being able to share a little bit more about myself," Cynthia tells Shelley Wade. "Obviously, there's trepidation because you never know what people will take from it, but there's nothing that I can necessarily control. I just know that I have been as honest as I possibly can, and I'm going to continue doing that and hopefully people will be encouraged to do the same."

Erivo admits she was scared when releasing her debut 4 years ago, but the release of 'I Forgive You' leaves her more nervous this time around. "I think I'm really proud of what I've written, proud of what I've managed to create this time, and I think I'm way less scared than I was the last time because now it feels like it's really mine."

"I think I want people to understand that I'm as human and as fallible as everybody else," she shares with Shelley on what she hopes listeners take away. "I think sometimes we project onto people what we want of them, so I think often the imperfections aren't necessarily what people want to see of me, but they're there. They are what makes me human, so I'm hoping people are welcoming of those things too,"

Just a vowel away from an EGOT, Cynthia often projects pure confidence in her performance, but she cautions that there's moments before that help create that command. "When I'm singing, I'm very comfortable because that's a place that I sort of know very well and I use it to connect, and love doing it, but I don't think people realize that right before the moment that feels really confident, I'm nervous and I spend the day trying to make sure I'm prepared and ready to be able to deliver something that I can be proud of. But again, as a human being, I have vulnerabilities. I have moments of quiet and I think this is a moment for me to be able to share that with people."

In discussing the album with Shelley, Erivo shares the message of 'I Forgive You,' an album dedicated to those trying to figure it out, and to those struggling to say 3 other "hard words" to ourselves or to someone else, ensuring that you no longer have to do it alone.

"When we go through things in our lives we are either really hard on ourselves about them, we don't give ourselves the choice of letting them go, and we're not very good at giving that grace to other people when things have been done to us," admits Cynthia. "So when I had written it, I kept trying to figure out what I wanted to call it. And yes, there are love songs in it, there are songs about heartbreak, there are songs about loss, there are songs about finding love, there's songs about passion, but all of those things are human experiences that we sometimes sort of color with shame or guilt or those sort of harder feelings to deal with, and we don't necessarily look at them through eyes that are forgiving."

"So when I finished writing the album and had sequenced it and put it in the right order and saw the story, I realized that actually the bigger overarching theme of all of it was in the end, forgiveness for yourself, if anything has happened and for the things that you might have done that you haven't really let go of, or for the things that have happened to you that you haven't necessarily let go of."

Ahead of their new album, 'I Beat Loneliness,' out everywhere July 18, Bush has offered another preview and join us for an Audacy Check In as Gavin Rossdale talks with Audacy's Abe Kanan about "The Land Of Milk And Honey," the group's upcoming tour with Shinedown, and his surprising cooking show.

Step into "The Land of Milk and Honey," the latest soaring, anthemic single from Bush, who have a busy 2025 on the books already. The band returns with the electrifying new album, I Beat Loneliness, on July 18, and then immediately hits the road with Shinedown on their 'Dance, Kid, Dance' tour.

"I intentionally kept the record short so that there's 12 songs," says Gavin. "People are tailing off by the 14th song, you know what I mean? I don't get really long records of people do 22 song albums. I don't wanna hear anyone, 22 songs. It's really concise and so I hope that feeling spreads across the whole record."

With two singles to sink into already, Abe ventures to ask, "What can we expect on the album? Are the other 10 songs as good as these 2, or you just put out the 2 and you're like, 'the rest is garbage,'" he laughs. "Oh hell no. The rest of the album's better," exclaims Rossdale. "Every song can't be kind of a piledriving 'Land Of Milk And Honey,' but it's just got a range. What's weird about it is it just sits organically together."

"It's meant to represent everybody, who sort of finds a way to get through these crazy times that we're in," reveals Gavin. "That people have the courage to get through when times are really hard and you feel like every day is a struggle, and worse, you feel like everyone else has it way easier. There's a real common misconception, I feel that people look at social media, people read the sort of pages where they wanna be, and they have a lot of fear of their own lives of passing them by and they haven't got themselves together. When most of the time they're really carefully orchestrated images, not really what reality is. So it's really cool to have a record that definitely speaks to people and not expecting you to meet me on your yacht."

The album is also a moment to look back on the totality of Bush, as I Beat Loneliness marks their 10th studio LP. "There's a certain sense of just like continuing on and keeping it very, very connected to reality, and connected to the ground," shares Rossdale. "That's how we've been able to make all those records I think, and tour and not fall apart."

Along the way to their 10th album, Gavin has also become somewhat of a cooking celebrity with his show, 'Dinner with Gavin Rossdale,' inspiring fans like Abe with simple dishes and preparation like his take on cauliflower. "The best cooking's really simple," he says, going on to detail a basic but delicious cauliflower recipe. "People think you're a genius, and that's it!"

To hear more about Gavin's cooking, prepping for tour, and the new album, check out the full Audacy Check In interview above.

With a voice like GIVĒON, you would assume he was always destine for success, but it took a while for the R&B star to "make it make sense" as he was growing up. The "RATHER BE" singer joined DJ Buck for an Audacy Check In at the Hard Rock Hotel New York recently, to preview his album, 'BELOVED,' and share some insight into his journey.

Growing up in California, GIVĒON says he would "visualize" the spot he's in now, "but it was hard to make it make sense because I had no idea the steps that it would take," he shares. "I would imagine it all the time, but did I believe it? I don't know."

"This is also a space where If, if you're a doctor, you're the best doctor in the world, you're gonna end up being a great doctor somewhere. If you're an amazing basketball player, you're gonna end up in like at least a professional organization. But music, I feel like you can be so talented and still there's a chance that you just won't get into a certain position because of circumstance."

Now that he's a leader in this new school of R&B, it seems like it was always meant to be for GIVĒON, even if his mom is still in shock. "I want her to stop saying she can't believe it," he jokes. "I'm like, 'all right, it's been 5 years.' I'm getting offended now."

Maybe it will finally sink in on July 11, when GIVĒON releases him latest project, 'BELOVED,' which has been years in the making. "I'm super excited and like, relieved," he reveals. "It's hard working on something for 3 years because year 3 don't feel the same as year 1. Year 1 is a little more relaxed. Year 3 is like, 'OK, you're on the clock.' It's up to you be like, 'yeah, but I'm gonna be an artist that takes its time.' I'm that, but I also really care about my fans and the people who take the time to listen and people who spend their money to go see me for for 80 minutes to however long, so I just want to give them something too."

Hear more from GIVĒON as he shares stories behind "Heartbreak Anniversary," linking up with Drake, and more during our Audacy Check In.

BET nominated, Billboard congratulated, and all-around rising R&B star kwn joins us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York for an Audacy Check In, telling Poet Taylor about her new single, "do what i say," working with Kehlani, and the importance of being "unapologetically yourself."

"I like to just get straight to the point, which is crazy cause I'm actually a shy person," kwn admits about her music. "I'm a bit introverted until you break me down and get to know me, so I put it all out in my music."

"I'm the person in the back of the room being very observant of everyone around me, but I think the confidence just comes from me just being myself and not letting anybody steer me away from who I am and who I'm trying to be."

The latest offering, the commanding, "not asking twice" track, "do what i say" is the latest to capture the attention of fans, after kwn's collab with Kehlani on "worst behaviour" and opening for her on tour, served as an introduction to many. "As soon as we came up with the idea for the video, we were like, it's obviously gonna do something to the world," kwn reveals about the steamy visual with Kehlani. "The response was insane. I'm super grateful for it. Obviously there's been some bad stuff, but there's all of the good stuff is like overwritten all of that."

That response ranged from "bad stuff" to love, to someone even offering up a family member to kwn in the DMs. "Somebody DM'ed me and said, 'I'd like to volunteer my mum for a night with you,'" kwn shares. "That threw me all the way off. That was insane."

For more on kwn's relationship with Kehlani, her upcoming EP, and staying authentic, check out the full Audacy Check In above.

Rise Against have offered up a few glimpses of what's next with scorching singles, "Nod," and "Prizefighter." This week we get yet another, with the commanding "I Want It All," and details on a new album, 'RICOCHET,' due out August 15. Now, frontman Tim McIlrath dives in during an Audacy Check In to talk about the new track, shared experiences, 25 years of Rise Against, and more.

"I think raw is a perfect word," Tim tells Abe Kanan about the new song, "I Want It All."

"I think we captured a lot of it live. We were like kind of just going with the energy of it, just not overthinking it. It's a burst of energy of a song, we wanted it to have that kind of vibe," he adds. "I'm looking forward to really sinking my teeth into it on stage."

"I Want It All" is the latest preview of the band's upcoming album, 'RICOCHET,' and the band will get plenty of chances to bring that raw energy to the stage, with a co-headlining tour with Papa Roach this fall. "I think that's just something that's just in our DNA since we first started playing in this band, like being respectful of the music," Tim says of Rise Against's live show. "And then playing music that doesn't allow you to phone it in, you know what I mean? Like the music, it just, it kind of gets a hold of you and it makes you really live through it."

For much more from Tim and Rise Against, listen to the full Audacy Check In above.

Justice recently joined us in the studio for an Audacy Check In, talking with Bru about their hit with Tame Impala, "Neverender," and what's next for the French dance duo.

Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay say 2025 is flying by, thanks in part to the whirlwind success of their song, "Neverender."

"When we wrote the song, like the three of us, we felt good about it," admits Xavier de Rosnay. "It's only when we played it at Coachella last year before the album release, so the song was not known, that we saw that people had an immediate reaction on something they don't know, which we took as a good omen."

"We always say that it is a collective hallucination. You don't know why your song makes it somewhere. It's just that at some point there's a bunch of people who think, 'oh, this is what I want to hear,' and this is something that we don't really have any control over, so it's cool."

Part of the secret to Justice's success lies in their work ethic, and willingness to let it breathe. "Our secret is that we take vacations every other week," shares Xavier. "We would work one week on the record, then take one week off, then come back just in order to always be a bit fresh and also wanting to go there because when you spend too much time not stopping, then you start like saturating and focusing on maybe the wrong details."

That fresh mind helped the duo dig deep into the details, some that come blaring through your speakers, and others that are more hidden along the way. "There is a beer bottle hidden somewhere on the record," smiles Gaspard Augé. "The percussion that you hear in your left ear on 'Neverender' is made with a beer bottle," follows Xavier. "At the end when we recorded some of the parts to produce the song. We had a drummer make some tracks, and we told him, because we demoed it as a triangle, we told him, 'OK, can you play that with a triangle?' And he listened to the track and he said, 'No, I'm gonna do it with a beer bottle. Give me a beer.'"

"So he drank the beer and then he played it just with a beer bottle and we have a video of this actually. He's an amazing drummer, every time you hear live drums on the record, that's him. And he's a classical musician, then he was playing in jazz band, so he's a jazz drummer. And, we love people who are not afraid of doing things a bit differently."

Don't miss our full Audacy Check In with Justice above.

One of the most iconic forces in all of Hip-Hop history joins us at the Hard Rock Hotel New York, as Chuck D sits down for an Audacy Check In to talk about the making of his new album, 'Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon,' his journey through Hip-Hop, and much more.

The Public Enemy frontman remains one of the most important voices in music, and he has returned with more wisdom on wax for his latest offering. According to Def Jam, 'Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon,' is "the return of the voice that never left. Chuck D delivers a seismic broadcast of truth, rhythm, and resistance—uniting Hip-Hop’s pioneers and new generations alike in a fearless soundtrack for the times."

During his talk with DJ Scratch, Chuck confirmed, "when you hear me actually on the record as an MC, it's not like a Public Enemy record. It's more like I'm MCing rappers coming in."

"'Radio Armageddon' has no beginning and end to it," reveals Chuck D. "It's not really like an MC record as opposed [to] like, it's damn near like a radio station with acid poured on it."

The legendary rapper did take it back to the beginning during his talk with DJ Scratch, looking back on his first moments on the mic at Adelphi. "I was rhyming at my college, Adelphi, just to shut people up from grabbing the mic cause I wanna get my dance on."

"They had an open mic and everybody from Brooklyn, the Bronx, cause that's where Adelphi was. Everybody from all over, they thought automatically that, what they heard in the summer, people getting on the mic and rocking it, they thought that cause they was from the place that they get on the mic too, and most people on an open mic was terrible."

"So I was like, you know what, 'that mic is gonna be open. I'm gonna get on that mic, and I'm gonna sit everybody down.' So there'd be a long line trying to get the mic. They'd be playing 'Love Is The Message,' 'Good Times,' or whatever. I get the mic sure enough, there's nobody behind me. Nobody wanna touch the mic after I'm on it."

From college parties to the biggest stages around the world, the link between was Public Enemy, as D also reflected on his first meetings with Flava Flav and Terminator X. "We were all participants on WBAU and Adelphi Radio, and we was the first to actually integrate ourselves in radio playing Rap records, playing Rap records and talking about them. We were very scientific about it. And we became the radio station that Run-D.M.C. listened to because it was right over in Hollis, and then Curtis Blow and all, we were doing our thing in Long Island and in the city they wasn't playing Rap as much as us and breaking it down."

"We didn't wanna make records, but when we made records... I wanted to emulate World's Famous Supreme Team, cause I thought what World's Famous Supreme Team was doing at WHBI... I thought that that chaotic, everything was something, that's something that turned me on."

Hear much more from our deep dive with Chuck D and DJ Scratch in the full Audacy Check In above.

Five Finger Death Punch are on the verge of a major milestone, and joined us for an Audacy Check In to talk about it, along with the release of their updated version of "I Refuse," featuring Maria Brink of In This Moment.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Las Vegas band, and they are celebrating by releasing, 'Best Of – Volume 1,' a collection of re-recorded versions of their biggest songs, with "I Refuse" being the first taste for fans. The project is also a direct response to the recent sale of the band’s original master recordings by their former label.

"You live in those songs. There was no problem with the song to begin with. So that's a challenge to like, 'whoa, it was already great' in my opinion. All these songs, we are proud of them," explains guitarist Zoltan Bathory to Audacy's Abe Kanan. "So that's a challenge. How do we reimagine it for 2025? How do we do this? And you'll hear it. We put the work in."

FFDP had their masters sold by their label, so Zoltan and company went to route of Taylor Swift and re-recorded their own versions of their biggest songs. "From business perspective, from the record label side, it's a move on the chessboard, right? And now this is our move now, you know."

"It's gonna be the anniversary version. It's a 2025 anniversary version, so that's what we want to call them, 'the anniversary version,'" Bathory shares. "Taylor Swift has a rabid fan base, right? A very hardcore fan base. So when she put [out] the new songs, the fan base just simply switched to the new streams. It just happens so that we have probably the craziest fans on the planet. I mean, these guys are with us since day one, literally, and they're hardcore. It's the most loyal fanbase, so probably the same thing gonna happen."

'Best Of – Volume 1' will be available across all streaming platforms on July 18, and will also be released worldwide in physical CD and vinyl formats.

To hear so much more from Zoltan including a look into his Jiu-Jitsu Castle, and his philosophy on life, check out the full Audacy Check In conversation above.