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Kendrick Lamar is clearly not taking his foot off the gas pedal. His forthcoming comedy film is set to be released this summer.
HotNewHipHop is reporting that the MC is looking to extend his 2025 winning streak. After much speculation, we finally have more information on his first big screen effort. This week, Paramount+ disclosed more information on the project via a formal synopsis and the culture is already invested. Titled Whitney Springs, the movie follows a “Black man interning as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum” who “finds out that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.”
Originally announced in 2022, fans have speculated if Kendrick Lamar would play a role in the film and that too seems to be confirmed. In the promotional poster for the movie, Kendrick Lamar is listed as a primary talent along with Chloe East and Celeste Octavia. This is not the first time K.Dot has tapped into his acting talents, as he played a homeless man in Power.
While very little else is known about Whitney Springs, we do know that Kendrick Lamar has partnered with South Park co-creator Trey Parker to product the project. In an interview with Bloomberg News, Parker confirmed that the rapper was very involved in the creative process. “[Kendrick Lamar is] very involved. And Dave Free is very involved,” he stated. “Every day they are working on it.”
Whitney Springs will be streaming exclusively on Paramount+ starting July 11.
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Roy Ayers, the towering jazz legend whose songs reverberated throughout the entire scope of music, passed away this week at 84, leaving behind a massive library of sounds. Throughout his long career, Roy Ayers’s music has been sampled several times, and we have ## essential songs from Ayers that were sampled by Hip-Hop and R&B stars.
Roy Ayers passed away on Tuesday (March 4) after dealing with a long illness, according to reports. In the early 1970s, Ayers and his group, Roy Ayers Ubiquity began to find footing in the music scene. In 1973, Ayers soundtracked the film Coffy, which starred the legendary Pam Grier. The latter half of the decade was fruitful for Ayers with hit albums such as Mystic Voyage and Everybody Loves The Sunshine among them.
Countless artists have sampled Ayers, including Mary J. Blige, Naughty By Nature, The Notorious B.I.G., Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, A Tribe Called Quest, and more.
Below, we’re sharing these eight essential Roy Ayers songs sampled by Hip-Hop and R&B below.
“Everybody Loves The Sunshine”
“Searching”
“You Can’t Turn Me Away” – Sylvia Striplin (Ayers produced this track)
“Running Away”
“The Third Eye”
“Ooh”
“Mystic Voyage”
“Shining Symbol”
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Kanye West’s X, formerly Twitter, posts have been out of control for the past few weeks now, with the College Dropout artist doing everything from attacking the Jewish community (again) to proudly proclaiming himself a Nazi and a racist, but now, Ye seems to be going a different route as he’s extended an olive branch of sorts to a former rival in the King of the North, Drake.
After years of animosity between the two men, Kanye seems to have grown a soft spot for the embattled Canadian crooner/rapper as of late, and in a recent X post, Ye not only gave Drizzy a little love for his writing skills, but even went so far as to say he wants Drake to speak at his funeral.
In a random X post Kanye wrote, “I SAW A VIDEO OF DRAKE WALKING THROUGH HIS HOUSE AND SHOWING HE HAD A LIBRARY OF RYHME BOOKS MAN I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN AND REMEMBERED THIS WHEN MY JEALOUSY OVERTOOK ME,” before adding, “I LOVE DRAKE IMA SAY THIS WHEN I DIE I NEED YOU TO SPEAK AT [MY] FUNERAL.”
The post comes after a video of Drake kicking it at an empty club all by himself while gambling began circulating social media. While some said Drizzy is showing how big ballers play out in the field, others felt this was a sign of just how lonely Drake is feeling right now, as Kendrick Lamar did to him what 50 Cent did to Ja Rule in the mid 2000s.
Obviously, these two men are going through some things right now. Given their history of beefing with each other, maybe a reconciliation would help them heal at least a small piece of themselves that they need to in order to move forward. While there’s still hope for Drake to once again be the music darling he once was at the height of his popularity, the same can’t be said for Kanye West who’s proudly stating his allegiance to the Nazi movement at a time where fascism seems to be engulfing America thanks to the Racist-in-Chief and his administration.
We can’t call it, man.
What do y’all think about Kanye West requesting that Drake speak at his funeral? Why is Kanye even thinking about his dying day? Sound off in the comments section below.
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The Jazz and Soul music giant Roy Ayers has passed away. He was 84.
Variety reports that the Jazz vibraphonist’s family confirmed that he passed away on Tuesday, March 4, after a “long illness.”
“It is with great sadness that the family of legendary vibraphonist, composer, and producer Roy Ayers announce his passing which occurred on March 4, 2025 in New York City after a long illness,” reads the Ayers family’s statement. “He lived a beautiful 84 years and will be sorely missed. A celebration of Roy’s life will be forthcoming.”
Ayers is perhaps best known for his song “Everybody Loves The Sunshine,” from his 1976 album of the same name, which has been sampled countless times by Hip-Hop and R&B musicians. Ayers often credited Mary J. Blige’s 1994 “My Life,” which liberally samples the aforementioned song, with reviving his career and enriching his bank account.
Also a composer and record producer, Ayers’ deep and rich catalog of music has long been mined for samples that got flipped into new beats that hipped a new generation of listeners to his grooves. Some of those recognizable songs include “We Live In Brooklyn, Baby,” “Searching,” and “Running Away,” where were in turn chopped and massaged into new works from the like of Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Mos Def, Kendrick Lamar. A Tribe Called Quest and many, many more. Also notable was Ayers’ crafting of the soundtrack to the Blaxploitation classic Coffy, which stars Pam Grier.
One of this writers favorites was Ayers connecting with The Roots on their “Proceed II.”
Rest in powerful peace Roy Ayers.
This story is developing.
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Joey BadA$$ and Capital STEEZ, along with Powers Pleasant, were considered the vanguard of the sprawling Pro Era collective, comprised of several teenage wunderkinds that placed their stamp in underground Hip-Hop circles. Nyck Caution, a member of Pro Era, shared a snippet of a track recorded by Joey BadA$$ and Capital STEEZ on his Instagram page, showing just how far ahead they were as lyricists even at their relatively young ages.
Nyck Caution shared a track with a presumed working title of “gwood.mp3” that featured himself, Joey BadA$$, and Capital STEEZ going back and forth over a mid-tempo beat while rapping in a style that was certainly inspired by an earlier time in Hip-Hop.
“[W]as going through old music remembering disguise the limit and Found this old gem circa 2010 with Joey and Steez lmao wanted y’all to peep,” Caution wrote in the caption of the post.
Capital STEEZ passed away on December 23, 2012, after jumping off the roof of a Manhattan building. He was just 19. Joey BadA$$ has honored his colleague and friend several times in his music and has carried the torch along with other members of Pro Era and the larger Beast Coast collective that includes The Underachievers duo and the Flatbush Zombies trio.
Check out the track below.
[h/t Hip Hop DX]
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Over the weekend, the talk of the wrestling town was about how John Cena turned heel and beat WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes “within an inch of his life” with the help of Travis Scott (LOL), and while we all know this is all fake and rehearsed, it seems like Travis Scott might’ve actually done some real life damage to the American Nightmare.
According to wrestling website Caged Side Seats, the pimp slap that Travis Scott delivered to Cody Rhodes as he laid bloody on the wrestling mat during Saturday night’s Elimination Chamber PPV event might’ve actually been a bit too hard and legitimately injured the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Taking a swipe at Rhodes like he owed him money, Scott ultimately left the Champion with a busted eardrum and a black eye.
Yeah, that looked pretty bad. But given the kind of headshots and DDT’s and body slams that these wrestlers endure on a weekly basis, you’d figure this was just more performative roughhousing. Unfortunately, Travis Scott isn’t exactly a seasoned wrestler and doesn’t know how to pull his punches, so to say, and ended up doing more harm to Rhodes than any wrestler has done in the past year.
No word on whether or not the injury is severe enough to keep Rhodes out of the main event of WrestleMania 41 on April 19, but given that the man once wrestled with a torn pectoral tendon, we’re pretty sure he’s still gonna give this one a go come next month.
As for La Flame’s newfound career in the WWE, it doesn’t seem like this little slip-up will be hurting his chances at getting another shot in the ring in the coming future.
Per Caged Side Seats:
Scott is said to be training for more in-ring work in the future, possibly even matches. If so, hopefully the next few lessons will focus on worked shots and protecting your opponent.
And since this is pro wrestling — and because WWE has gotten quite good at using leaks to the so-called dirt sheets to disguise or advance storylines — it’s also worth mentioning the possibility this is information Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque and his collaborators want us to have. Rock’s Hollywood entitlement is already a big part of his heel character; allowing an outsider like Scott to shoot on a second-generation pro wrestler will only generate more heat for The Final Boss and his new squad… and possibly set up the Astroworld hitmaker’s first match.
How crazy would it be if Bad Bunny came out of wrestling retirement to go one-on-one with Travis Scott in the squared ring at some point in the future? We’d sign up for that one.
What do y’all think about Travis Scott slapping Cody Rhodes onto the injured reserve list of the WWE? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Earlier this year, it was announced that GloRilla would be making history as the first-ever ambassador to Fenty’s brands: Fenty Beauty, Fenty Hair, Fenty Skin and Savage x Fenty. Now, we’ve got a good look at what we can expect from the “Let Her Cook” rapper when reppin’ the Fenty brand, and she did not disappoint.
With Fenty releasing their new Sunray Lace collection, GloRilla stuns in a photoshoot for the collection as she flaunts her amazing physical degree to showcase the upcoming collection. Consisting of a plunge bra, lace thong and lace robe, the Sunray Lace features some slick, lace fabric with an eye-catching floral print that actually goes pretty well with her butterfly tattoo on her thigh. Not that we were staring or anything.
The collection is available now on the Fenty website with prices ranging from $25 to $95. Check out GloRilla stunt something serious below, and let us know if you’ll be copping any of the pieces in the comments section.
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Severance, the mysterious sci-fi thriller featuring Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, and Brit Lower, is now in its second season on the Apple TV+ streaming platform. Fans of Severance almost got a cool treat after series director and producer Ben Still asked President Barack Obama to voice the role of the Lumon Building as seen in the show’s first season.
As shared by the great Deadline team, Ben Stiller was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week and shared the bombshell tidbit that he asked former President Barack Obama to voice the role of the infamous Lumon Building, which was part of a pivotal scene in the series.
From Deadline:
“I didn’t ask him in person, I knew someone who knew his lawyer and his lawyer said I can relay the request if you write an email,” Stiller told Kimmel. “So I wrote an email to him saying like, ‘Hey we have this show,’ whatever. And like two days later, I get an email back from President Barack Obama.”
In his reply, Stiller said Obama told him he was a “big fan of the show” and was awaiting the second season. However, the former President of the United States turned down the offer saying, “I don’t think I have time in my schedule to make it happen.”
Could you imagine hearing Obama’s smooth voice on Severance? That would’ve been cool. The show is deep into its second season, and the mysteries of Lumon, along with the dual lives of the “outies” and “severed,” are still under deep examination. If you’re in the market for a show that’ll have you talking for days after, we highly suggest it.
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Rolling Loud, an upcoming Hip-Hop comedy film, has several music stars attached to the project along with other familiar faces. Sexyy Red, Ty Dolla $ign, Ski Mask the Slump God, and more are all slated to appear in the project.
As evidenced by the title Rolling Loud, the film is based on the music festival of the same name, as seen in an exclusive report from Variety. Owen Wilson stars as a washed and concerned dad who gets his teen son into the Rolling Loud festival accompanied by his friend, who is played by comedian Matt Rife. Along with the aforementioned stars, Henry Winkler is also a member of the cast, alongside Christine Ko.
Filming is currently taking place in Atlanta, and the film’s screenplay, direction, and production are all helmed. by American High CEO Jeremy Garelick. According to the outlet, Garelick oversaw Murder Mystery 2 with Adam Sandler.
Rolling Loud is set for a 2026 release.
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