genre hiphop
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Sauce Walka mourned the death of his friend and artist Sayso P in a lengthy Instagram post after both rappers were shot in Memphis last week.
“Words or tears can’t explain the loss I feel!” he began. “Splatt, I wish your fat ahh listened to me and stayed in the room. I told you we could smoke that blunt after security and the rest of our familia pull up.. Sosaman told you, ‘F dat weed, wait til we leave an hit Superior first.’ You always so hardheaded blood, but you know I’ma ride wit you regardless. We come together, we leave together. Wish you just went [to] DR with Shimmy and shot off, and skipped this trip to Memphis, but you was to excited I finally agreed to come to da ‘M.’”
He continued, “It’s been 4 years since @tsf1punch_10100 brought you to the familia. Did everything I could to help you change your lifestyle. From Miami to all 50 states, we been mashing and splashing together. I learned a lot from you, young spilla and [I’m] thankful for all the loyalty and support city to city, hood to hood with them sticks rap hustling! You left earth as a rich young boss, you left this earth happy and successful. I’ma make sure the world knows who you really are.”
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He added, “But unfortunately, most our kings and bosses are at war with each other. I hope one day we all stop taking lives from our communities and actually start to enjoy and build better futures for our cultures. But the streets are the streets, so I accept what came with being your big brother. I love you, Splatt.”
Rumors swirled that Sayso P was targeted because he allegedly ran off with $200K; however, his mother tried to clear things up on Facebook. “This is the type of lies and sh– that keep mothers losing our sons,” she wrote. “My son never stole anything. Never ran off with anything. Didn’t have to. Haters set him up but not because he stole a dime. He would give you his last before he stole anything. Please stop spreading rumors.”
Adding, “Let me repeat that, he did not have to take sh– from anyone. Money wasn’t a factor. He was too loyal. Too loyal to the wrong people was his biggest downfall. Haters who were envious killed my baby but I won’t let y’all steal his legacy. People see him with a stack and say anything. That was his norm.”
Sayso P, born Latorian Hunt, was 27 years old.
Congrats are in order for MGK and Megan Fox, who welcomed their first child together on Thursday (March 27). Kelly revealed the birth of their daughter in a heartfelt post to Instagram with a glimpse of their baby girl. “She’s finally here!! our little celestial seed,” MGK (formerly Machine Gun Kelly) captioned the post with […]
Will Smith is gearing up to release his first album in 20 years with Based on a True Story, which arrives Friday (March 28). Before digging into the recording process for the project, Smith made two phone calls to a pair of rap titans, soliciting advice from Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar.
Smith sat down with Sway in the Morning for a live SiriusXM interview on Wednesday in Philadelphia, where he revealed the guidance he received from Jay and K. Dot prior to starting his album.
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“Before I started, I made two phone calls. I talked to Jay and I talked to Kendrick. I was like, ‘Hey, I want to get back in music,” Smith said. “What’s the advice?’ Jay said, ‘Don’t fake your story.’ He was like, ‘You gotta say what’s true for you.”
The multi-hyphenate continued: “He’s like, ‘You’ll be looking at the younger rappers and you want that to be true for you, but you don’t live like that. He was like, ‘Be true to your story. Tell you story.’ That’s where I got the Based On a True Story from Jay.”
When Smith got a hold of Kendrick, he implored him to be brutally honest when it came to his music and “say that s–t you’ve always been f—ing scared to say” on records. “Basically the same thing, be honest. It was scary,” Smith added. “Make the record you want to make. Don’t try to make the record that you think people will like you for. Make the one that’s authentic.”
Based on a True Story boasts 14 tracks and features previously released singles “First Love,” “Beautiful Scars,” “TANTRUM,” “Work of Art,” and “You Can Make It,” as well as collaborations with DJ Jazzy Jeff, Teyana Taylor, his son Jaden Smith and Jac Ross.
Smith will also hit the road for a headlining European tour this summer in support of his first album since 2005’s Lost and Found.
Listen to the clip of Will Smith talking about the advice he got from Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar below.
Billboard Women in Music is this Saturday, March 29, and with our celebration of Doechii as Woman of the Year, we’re taking you to Brazil and Canada where we celebrated Ana Castela and Charlotte Cardin. Are you excited for Billboard Women in Music 2025? Let us know in the comments! Tetris Kelly: As we get […]
Posdnuos, founding member of hip-hop legends De La Soul, has the mind-set of a classic rock icon who continues to record and tour after most people that age opt for retirement.
Talking to Billboard‘s Behind the Setlist podcast after a session in the recording studio, Pos (born Kelvin Mercer) says that being mindful of his health is critical to the group’s longevity. “We’re in the gym, running, doing the cardio and staying healthy. I love to run around onstage like a fool. So I’m always in spin class and lifting weights so I can keep my cardio up, man. I want to be like [The Rolling Stones frontman] Mick Jagger, moving around until the grave.”
At this point, De La Soul is to hip-hop what British invasion bands are to rock & roll. The Stones’ debut album came out a quarter-century before De La Soul released its first album, 3 Feet High and Rising, in 1989. More than 35 years and eight more studio albums later, De La Soul is where The Stones were in 2000: respected elders and innovators with a historic catalog and an appetite to remain relevant.
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“I’m really happy that we have a brand that we can still put out there,” Pos says. “Whenever we raise the flag, people want to come in and partake in whatever we’re offering.”
De La Soul has remained busy since the death of bandmate Trogoy the Dove (born David Jolicoeur) in December 2023. After a long absence from digital platforms because of a legal dispute, the group’s celebrated catalog appeared at streaming services in 2023. “We carried on pretty well” while being absent from services such as Spotify and Apple Music, says Pos. “Did we not gain certain fans at a certain time? Definitely, because you gotta realize we missed the entire download era and streaming until about two years ago. But with us still putting out music, we saw how people were so engaged, and even younger people engaged in our music.”
In the Internet age, De La Soul is never more than a Google search away. The group found a new wave of admirers after collaborations with Gorillaz that produced the hit song “Feel Good Inc.” in 2005 and “Crocadillaz” in 2023. Thanks to an abundance of metadata about music, people curious about the musicians on the tracks could easily find information about group — although they got to know him as Kelvin Mercer. “I’m a government name with young people,” says Pos.
The interview focused on De La Soul’s Jan. 16 show at Lincoln Center in Manhattan and also covered the group’s album and EP reissues. Listen to the entire conversation with Posdnuous using the embedded Spotify player below or go to Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Amazon Music, Podbean or Everand.
Suge Knight openly criticized Ye (formerly Kanye West) for his comments about Jay-Z and Beyoncé’s kids earlier this month during an explosive X tirade. Knight joined the Art of Dialogue podcast earlier this week, where he targeted West and put the embattled Chicago rapper on blast for his flagrant remarks about Jay and Bey’s seven-year-old […]
Uncle Luke has something to say about Southern rap music. The 2 Live Crew frontman celebrated 40 years of Miami hip-hop by giving fans a history lesson on his Instagram account about the group’s early struggles to be taken seriously by fellow rappers from New York, specifically Run-D.M.C., Salt-N-Pepa, Kid ‘N Play, Eric B. & […]
Lyrical Lemonade has announced this year’s Summer Smash Festival lineup — and it contains some potentially culture-shaking performances. The three-day event will be headlined by Future, the world debut of the newly formed duo of Don Toliver and Yeat, and Young Thug in his first live performance since his release from jail.
Scheduled for Friday, June 20, through Sunday, June 22, Summer Smash will grace SeatGeek Stadium near Chicago for its seventh iteration. Tickets will be released for purchase on Friday (March 28) at 12 p.m. CT via the Summer Smash website.
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This year’s Summer Smash Festival features some of the hottest names across hip-hop’s innumerable scenes. Led by Don Toliver and Yeat, the Friday night lineup also includes Trippie Redd, Ski Mask the Slump God, NLE Choppa, Nettspend, DC the Don, Molly Santana, Karrahbooo and more. On Saturday (June 21), Future will lead a lineup that features Sexyy Red, Lil Tecca, Destroy Lonely, SahBabii, Soulja Boy, Osamason, BabyTron, Plaqueboymax, Famous Dex and 1900Rugrat. The lineup of Sunday night performers preceding Thugger’s highly anticipated live comeback includes Lil Yachty, Quavo, Nav, G Herbo, Saba, Insane Clown Posse, Bktherula, Skaiwater and TiaCorine. Chance the Rapper will close out one of the two main stages on Sunday night.
“I feel lucky to be able to throw the party of the year with my best friends,” said Cole Bennett, Summer Smash Festival cofounder and Lyrical Lemonade founder, in a press release. “May this be the best one yet. Lucky No. 7.”
Young Thug’s headlining appearance comes the year after Summer Smash hosted one of the most iconic musical homecomings of the decade with Chief Keef’s long-awaited return to performing in Chicago after a 12-year hiatus. Thug, of course, was in the throes of his state RICO trial for most of 2024. On Oct. 31, 2024, he was sentenced to 15 years probation and no prison time after pleading guilty in the long-running case accusing him of leading a violent Atlanta street gang. Despite popping up on songs with Lil Baby (“Dum, Dumb & Dumber”) and Playboi Carti (“We Need All Da Vibes”), Thugger has been relatively quiet on the music front so far in 2025.
See the full lineup below:
From “In West Philadelphia born and raised” to now having a street named after him in his hometown, Will Smith will forever be synonymous with Philadelphia. Smith was honored on Wednesday (March 26) during a ceremony celebrating the 56-year-old artist having a street named after him in West Philadelphia. From here on out, 59th Street […]
With Doechii being honored at Billboard Women in Music this upcoming Saturday as Woman of the Year, Billboard staffers share their take on the internet debating if she’s an industry plant, and explain why she isn’t.
Keep watching to see their take!
What do you think an industry plant is? Let us know in the comments below!
Jerah Milligan:
Yo, y’all see Twitter going crazy talking about Doechii and Billboard?
Evan Burke:
Oh, my god, yeah. I gotta show you this one. Someone said “kind of awesome that it’s only March and Billboard’s like’ we’ve seen enough it’s Doechii.’” I mean, but it’s legit though. I mean, she just won a Grammy that only two other women has ever won.
Ciara Zimring:
She’s killing it.
Evan Burke:
And I mean, Women in Music always happens every March. So it’s not like we just decided.
Stefanie Tanaka:
It’s not like this is, like, the first time we’ve done it. We kind of did something similar, with SZA like, ‘SOS’ came out at the very end of, like, 2022 when she was our Woman of the Year in March, and then she had that great run in 2023 with ‘SOS.’
Tetris Kelly:
But I feel like what they’re really doing is just putting Billboard in the conversation that they were already trying to have about Doechii being an industry plant.
Evan Burke:
I mean, they’ve always been trying to discredit her success. I mean, she has been like in the game forever. She was our Rising Star two years ago. So it’s not like she is brand new.
Tetris Kelly:
Oh my god. Two years ago, I was talking to her at Coachella.
Ciara Zimring:
Oh, right!
Jerah Milligan:
Oh, well five years ago I saw her on Twitter. I saw her post “ I lost my job. I’m going to go knock on doors”
Keep watching for more!