Hip-Hop
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CRT FRSH, Hip-Hop Wired’s playlist where we attempt to showcase music we believe is “Certified Fresh,” is back again! With our latest update of the year, we’ve had a lot of catching up to do so let’s get to the newness.
Disclaimer:
The CRT FRSH playlist is a labor of love. We don’t take payments nor do we do favors. We only add joints to our playlist that fit the theme and vision we’re going for and don’t seek to waste the listener’s time. Further, we don’t stick to one lane of Hip-Hop. We believe that all aspects of the music should get some light, whether it’s young lions in the trenches or those hoping for that one shot to blow up to grizzled veterans puffing out their chests with lots more to say.
I want to explain how I approach curating the CRT FRSH playlist. Most importantly, I don’t segregate my Hip-Hop. Every form of music from the main cultural tree deserves a listen and a look. When I construct the playlist, I want to include all regions across the States and, when applicable, across the globe. I also want to entertain every fan of Hip-Hop, not just those who enjoy one segment of it. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get to it. — D.L. Chandler
Welcome back to the latest update to your newest and favorite playlist, Certified Fresh (CRT FRSH)! We’ve been MIA for a while so we’ll need to dig deep into the virtual crates as we bring the listeners and ourselves up to speed.
We open the playlist with “NOKIA” from Drake and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s collaborative album, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, which has been making moves on the charts since dropping earlier this year. Taking it to Montreal, Mike Shabb’s “Crews pop” is one of several standout tracks from his hazy, well-executed album, shabbvangogh. Playboi Carti’s new MUSIC album is doing its numbers and the track “GOOD CREDIT” sounds ready for a stadium performance with Kendrick Lamar appearing for a scene-stealer verse.
MARCO PLUS, one of dopest rappers out of Atlanta, has been on CRT FRSH before and the track “gmfu” is more of his usual strong, hypnotic work. Doechii re-released an extended version of her stellar Alligator Bites Never Heal project and “Anxiety” is one of the bonus tracks of note. We took it back to 2024 and Nappy Nina and Swarvy’s slept-on Nothing Is My Favorite Thing and the track “Omakase” features some extremely dope verses from maassai and Stas THEE Boss.
We want to thank the rest of our CRT FRSH included acts such as GELO, GloRilla, Big Cheeok, Dhani, J. Cole, LORD JAH-MONTE OGBON, Freddie Gibbs, Hidden Renaissance, MACADEN, King Quad, JT, Samara Cyn, Sherwyn, Jack Harlow, Doja Cat, Zelooperz, Real Bad Man, The Alchemist, Wale, IDK, Lil Durk, Jhene Aiko, Pyraminds, Planet Asia, and Guilty Simpson.
We’ll be updating this playlist in two to three weeks with some, ahem, fresh updates and new acts along with a revamped structure to the segment. Stay tuned!
To be considered for inclusion in the CRT FRSH playlist, please email playlist curator D.L. Chandler at: dchandler@bhmdigital.com
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Angie Stone, an amazing singer and songwriter who established herself as a soul star in the late 1990s and early 2000s, passed away on Saturday, March 1, at the age of 63. Although most music fans are well aware of Angie Stone’s singing career, her roots in Hip-Hop run deep, and Hip-Hop Wired examines those connections.
Angie Stone was born Angela Laverne Brown on December 18, 1861, in Columbia, S.C. It was in her hometown that she was a member of The Sequence, an all-woman Hip-Hop trio consisting of Cheryl “Cheryl The Pearl” Cook, Gwendolyn “Blondie” Chisolm, and Angie “Angie B” Stone. The group came together when the three were all in high school, and they were first noticed after a Sugarhill Gang performance along with Sugar Hill Records founder and CEO, Sylvia Robinson.
The Sequence was the first female Hip-Hop trio to be signed to the famed Sugar Hill Records label and made history with their 1979 single “Funk You Up,” the second single released from the label after “Rapper’s Delight” by the Sugarhill Gang. Stone is also credited on the pioneering Hip-Hop single, which helped usher the music to wider audiences and mainstream appeal.
The release and success of “Funk You Up” is significant as The Sequence was comprised of artists who hailed from the Southern United States, proving that Hip-Hop’s reach extended far beyond the five boroughs of New York.
Portions of “Funk You Up” have been sampled by the likes of Too, Short Boogie Down Productions, De La Soul, Ice Cube, and dozens more. Dr. Dre used sounds from the single for his 1995 single, “Keep Their Heads Ringin” as well. Although the group initially disbanded in 1985, the group made comeback songs in the modern era via a 2011 single “On Our Way To The Movies,” which did not feature Stone.
Stone worked with Hip-Hop duo Mantronix (DJ Kurtis Mantronik and MC Tee) before becoming the lead vocalist for the Vertical Hold trio, releasing a pair of albums in the early 1990s. She then joined with Gerry DeVeaux, Lenny Kravitz’s cousin, and Charlie Mole as a member of the group Devox. While the group didn’t last beyond one album, Stone’s songwriting prowess honed in her time in the previous groups led to her providing songwriting credits on D’Angelo’s Brown Sugar and Voodoo albums. Stone and D’Angelo had a son together as well.
In 2003, by now well established as an R&B vocalist and songwriter, Stone appeared on Erykah Badu’s “Love of My Life Worldwide” from the Texas singer’s Worldwide Underground album. Badu, and fellow featured acts Queen Latifah and Bahamadia all delivered bars with Stone on the anchor verse with “Funk You Up” as the backing sample.
In 2017, with the assistance of attorney Antavius Weems, The Sequence filed a Federal Copyright Infringement claim aimed at Bruno Mars, stating that his smash hit “Uptown Funk” used elements of “Funk You Up.”
Angie Stone and her contributions to music won’t be forgotten, as evidenced by the outpouring of adoration and regard from her fellow musicians and fans from around the world. Hopefully, those unaware of her strong roots in Hip-Hop culture are enlightened about her place in that great pantheon as well.
Rest powerfully in peace, Angie Stone.
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Roberta Flack, an enduring voice that the world got to know through her chart-topping and soul-stirring ballads, was a source of sound for several Hip-Hop producers over the years. As we continue to honor the life and legacy of the legendary vocalist, Hip-Hop Wired has compiled 10 songs that sampled Roberta Flack’s music.
My first time hearing Roberta Flack occurred when I was in elementary school via the song “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” a beautiful ballad written by the late Gene McDaniels. As I was still quite young, I didn’t know what the lyrics meant but what I could tell you then is that it sounded like what I imagined falling in love deeply was like. Roberta Flack’s serene, even-keeled voice sounded as if it descended from the heavens and few singers have had that effect on me.
As I aged, so did my pursuit of music which is where my devotion to Hip-Hop strengthened and learning about the intricacies of sampling in music production. However, few songs have captured the essence of Flack’s sonics to the level of The Fugees’ 1996 rendition of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” and the beauty of it all is that The Fugees had the honor of having Flack perform the global hit with them.—D.L. Chandler
Flack’s music just didn’t boost the sonic profile of The Fugees, but also gave strong backdrops to the likes of Scarface, Gang Starr, T.I. Ye, Memphis Bleek, Lil’ Kim, Biz Markie, and countless others. Below, we’re featuring 10 songs that sampled Roberta Flack’s classic music. Let us know on social media or in the comments if we missed any of your favorites.
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The estate of legendary rapper Notorious B.I.G. is suing Target, Home Depot and others over allegations that they sold unauthorized canvas prints of the famed “King of New York” photo that was snapped just days before his death.
In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court, Notorious BIG LLC claims the retailers sold prints illegally created by iCanvas – a small firm that the estate says showed a “complete disregard for celebrities’ personality rights, lack of respect for artists’ efforts, and disdain for intellectual property law.”
“Defendants specifically chose to use Mr. Wallace’s persona, name, image, likeness … in an attempt to capitalize on their fame and extraordinary financial value,” Biggie’s estate writes, referring to his legal name, Christopher George Latore Wallace.
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The image at issue in the new lawsuit is “The King Of New York” – a portrait of Biggie wearing a gold crown in front of a red backdrop, snapped in March 1997 only three days before the rapper was killed in a Los Angeles shooting.
The photos — taken by photographer Barron Claiborne, who is also named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit — are some of the most well-known images of the late rapper. One is featured in a huge mural in his Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, and the plastic crown featured in the image sold at auction in 2020 for a whopping $594,750.
In their Tuesday lawsuit, the estate and Claiborne say that iCanvas sold canvas prints of the images for more than eight years without permission. In addition to selling them directly, the lawsuit claims the prints were also sold by Bed Bath & Beyond, Home Depot, Nordstrom and Target – each of which is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
When contacted about the problem in 2023, Home Depot, Nordstrom and Target removed the offending products, the lawsuit says, but iCanvas and Bed Bath & Beyond allegedly continue to sell them.
The case claims that the sale of the images not only infringed Claiborne’s copyrights to the King images, but also breached federal trademark law and violated the rapper’s likeness rights.
“Mr. Wallace’s fan base has continued to expand since his passing,” the estate’s lawyers write. “Mr. Wallace’s persona, name, image, likeness, and artistic works are so well known that they are almost universally and instantly recognizable, even by those born after he died.”
The case could portend bigger problems for iCanvas. The lawyers for Biggie’s estate say they’re only a few of the “victims” of a “multi-year unlawful campaign” by the company to sell unauthorized prints of famous people and images, including musicians Beyonce, Prince, Jay-Z, Snoop Dog and LL Cool J.
None of the defendants immediately returned requests for comment on Wednesday.
It’s not the first time the Notorious B.I.G. estate has sued over photographs. In 2019, the estate sued hip-hop photographer Chi Modu over his famed 1996 image of Biggie standing in front of the World Trade Center. Though Modu owns the copyrights to the image, the estate claimed he was violating the rapper’s likeness rights by using it on merchandise.
That case settled last year on undisclosed terms – a deal that came with a warning from the estate’s attorneys about the use of his image: “Pictures of Christopher cannot be commercially exploited without a license from our client.”
Lil Wayne is gearing up to make waves ahead of Super Bowl LIX, teasing fans with a mysterious announcement set for Thursday, Feb. 6—just days before the big game in New Orleans.
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While speculation runs wild, the rap legend is keeping details under wraps, fueling anticipation with a cryptic Instagram Story video.
“Y’all know I’m not going to be there this week, which means I guess there’s a seat to fill,” Wayne said. “Shout out to New Orleans, but I’ve been working on something very special. I got something exciting coming for you Thursday, the 6th. Until then… I’m chillin’.”
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Though he hasn’t revealed specifics, fans are already theorizing what Tunechi has in store. Some are hoping for a surprise single or project announcement, while others are speculating about a Super Bowl-related activation.
With his long-teased album Tha Carter VI expected to drop this year, the timing aligns with what could be a major musical moment.
Back in December, Wayne recently publicly addressed his absence from the Super Bowl Halftime Show, where Kendrick Lamar will headline. Some fans initially expected Weezy to join Lamar on stage, given their past collaborations and mutual respect.
However, Wayne confirmed in a recent interview that he wouldn’t be attending the game and had spoken directly with Kendrick to clear up any misunderstandings.
“I’ve spoken to him, and I wish him all the best and I told him he better kill it,” Wayne told Skip Bayless on his show in December, during which the host revealed that he remains “baffled and angry” that his guest was not tapped to perform on the biggest stage there is in his own backyard.
“For whatever reason I believe it’s over my head,” Wayne said as part of what he described as the “general” reason why he thinks he was passed over for the gig during what is traditionally the most-viewed TV program of the year. “I don’t know why, period. Obviously I believe that it’s perfect… I do not know why.”
Wayne’s Carter series has been a dominant force on the Billboard 200, with Tha Carter V debuting at No. 1 in 2018 with 480,000 equivalent album units—his fourth chart-topping album. His most recent project, Tha Fix Before Tha VI, was released in 2023, serving as a precursor to the highly anticipated Tha Carter VI.
In 2023, the New Orleans rapper dropped the mixtape Tha Fix Before That VI (Bonus) featuring Jon Batiste, Euro, Cool & Dre, Fousheé, TheNightAftr, and DMX and he and 2 Chainz released Welcome 2 Collegrove, the follow-up to their 2016 collab album ColleGrove.
While he hasn’t released a full-length project yet this year, the Young Money boss has been active feature-wise. He appeared on French Montana‘s “Splash Brothers” alongside Rick Ross, Flau’jae‘s “Came Out A Beast,” DJ Premier‘s “Ya Don’t Stop” with Ross again and Big Sean, and he was featured on Ye and Ty Dolla $ign‘s Vultures 2 song “Lifestyle.”
When the news broke of Lamar’s upcoming performance in September last year, Weezy was very candid about being passed over. “First of all, I want to say forgive me for the delay. I had to get strength enough to do this without breaking,” said a somber Wayne in an Instagram post at the time.
“I’mma say thank you to every voice, every opinion, all the care, all love and support out there. Your words turned into arms and held me up when I tried to fall back.”
At the time, he said the news “Hurt. It hurt a lot. You know what I’m talking about. It hurt a whole lot. I blame myself for not being mentally prepared for a letdown. And for automatically mentally putting myself in that position like somebody told me that was my position. So I blame myself for that. But I thought that was nothing better than that spot and that stage and that platform in my city, so it hurt. It hurt a whole lot.”
Will Drake’s pending defamation lawsuit stop Kendrick Lamar from performing “Not Like Us” during his Super Bowl halftime performance? Legal experts say it might — but that it really shouldn’t.
Under normal circumstances, it’s silly to even ask the question. Obviously a Super Bowl halftime performer will play their chart-topping banger — a track that just swept record and song of the year at the Grammys and was arguably music’s most significant song of the past year.
But these are very much not normal circumstances. Last month, Drake filed a lawsuit over “Not Like Us,” accusing Universal Music Group of defaming him by boosting the scathing diss track. The case, which doesn’t name Lamar as a defendant, claims UMG spread the song’s “malicious narrative” — namely, that Drake is a pedophile — despite knowing it was false.
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That pending legal action makes it fair to wonder: When Lamar steps onto the world’s biggest stage on Sunday night (Feb. 9), will he face pressure to avoid the whole mess by just skipping “Not Like Us” entirely?
He shouldn’t, legal experts say, and for a pretty simple reason: Drake’s lawsuit against UMG is a legal loser. “I don’t think the case is strong at all,” says Samantha Barbas, a legal historian and an expert in defamation law at the University of Iowa’s College of Law.
For Drake to eventually win the case over “Not Like Us,” he’ll need to show that Lamar’s claims about him are provably false assertions — meaning the average person would hear them and assume Kendrick was stating actual facts. Barbas says that’ll be tough for Drake to do about a diss track, where fans expect bombast and “rhetorical hyperbole” more so than objective reality.
“In the context of a rap battle, the average listener is going to know that the allegations aren’t to be taken seriously,” she says. “Taunts and wild exaggerations are par for the course.”
Another challenge for Drake is that he’s a public figure. Under key First Amendment rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, a public figure like Drake must show that UMG either knew the lyrics were false or that the company acted with reckless disregard for the truth — a legal standard that’s intentionally difficult to meet so that rich and famous people don’t abuse libel lawsuits to squelch free speech.
“A high-profile public figure like Drake immediately enters the case with a high burden of proof,” says Roy Gutterman, the director of the Newhouse School’s Tully Center for Free Speech at Syracuse University.
UMG’s attorneys will also likely point to the fact that Drake himself made harmful allegations against Kendrick earlier in the same exchange of diss tracks, including that Lamar had abused his fiancée and that one of his children was fathered by another man. Were those defamatory statements of fact, or merely the exercise of artistic license within the conventions of a specific genre of music?
“Factoring in the context here — music and art within an ongoing dispute between rival musicians — he has an even tougher case,” Gutterman says.
So if Drake’s case is likely to eventually be dismissed, then there’s no reason for Kendrick to hold back on Sunday, right?
Not exactly.
For starters, Federal Communications Commission rules prohibit the airing of “obscene, indecent, or profane content” on broadcast television during primetime hours. To avoid those rules, Super Bowl halftime performers typically avoid curse words or overtly sexual material — something that would probably already preclude the “pedophile” line and other lyrics in “Not Like Us.”
Corporate legal departments are also famously risk averse, and often prefer to play it safe rather than potentially face expensive litigation, even if they’d ultimately win. That could lead any of the big companies involved here to put pressure on Kendrick to skip “Not Like Us.” His label, UMG, has vowed to fight back against Drake’s “frivolous” lawsuit, but might not want to add complications mid-litigation; the game’s broadcaster, Fox, or the NFL itself might worry about getting added to the suit as defendants.
Gutterman said it would be “a significant stretch of liability law” for Drake to successfully sue Fox or the NFL simply because Kendrick played “Not Like Us” at the halftime show. But in practice, that might not be how their in-house attorneys are thinking about it.
“The threat of litigation can have a chilling effect on speech,” Barbas says. “The safe thing to do is not to publish or broadcast.”
Reps for Lamar did not return a request for comment on whether he’ll perform the song. The British tabloid newspaper The Sun, citing anonymous sources, reported last week that Kendrick has faced pressure to skip the track but plans to perform it anyway and “won’t be silenced.” But that report could not be confirmed by Billboard and was not widely re-reported by other outlets.
Asked whether they have a position on whether Lamar plays the song, reps for UMG, Fox, the NFL and Roc Nation (Jay-Z’s company that produces the halftime show) all either declined to comment or did not return requests for comment.
When the show kicks off on Sunday night, the most likely outcome is probably somewhere down the middle: That Kendrick plays the song’s already-iconic instrumental hook and perhaps some of the lyrics, but skips any of the portions that are directly at play in Drake’s lawsuit.
“It wouldn’t be surprising,” Barbas says, “if the challenged lyrics are changed.”
Drake‘s father Dennis Graham was at the Grammys this weekend with the rest of the music world and was asked about Kendrick Lamar winning record of the year for “Not Like Us,” the diss song that ended the battle between the Compton rapper and Graham’s son. TikTok user @joy.of.everything posted a video of their interaction […]
Rising hip-hop star Doechii picked up her first career Grammy on Sunday night (Feb. 2) with an emotional win for best rap album, for her breakthrough mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news The set beat out a handful of longtime superstars in […]
Source: Gennadiy Kravchenko / GettyHip-Hop has evolved tremendously in its 50 years of existence. Technology is one of the main factors that help the art form become the beast it is. The music genre is not just known for the hit records and other big moments that kept us talking throughout its 50-year history; it has also impacted our culture in many ways.No music genre affects how we think, dress, talk, eat, drink, and socialize like Hip-Hop does. Its impact is felt not only in the United States but also globally.But to blossom into the billion-dollar behemoth, it is today, Hip-Hop had to undergo an evolution, and technology is one of the main reasons it has become one of the most popular art forms on the planet.From how we party, consume it, reach out to friends, and conduct business to how it is covered, Hip-Hop’s longtime partnership with technology and the advancements in equipment and devices helped push Hip-Hop forward.HipHopWired decided to break down the different ways tech has been involved in the music genre and how it helped shape it into what it is today. From advancements in how music is made to how it’s played and how we enjoy it, from the gadgets your favorite rapper convinced us we just had to have to how we get our news and the latest music videos, technology plays a major key (word to DJ Khaled) in all of that.So hit the gallery below for a brief history of how tech has helped shape and continue influencing Hip-Hop.
1. How Hip-Hop’s Hits Are Made?
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Crafting infectious hits that stay on repeat has evolved greatly in Hip-Hop’s 50 years of existence.
Before we had drum machines, DJ Kool Herc unknowingly sparked a revolution while spinning records at a house party in 1973 when he added a second turntable to his DJ rig.
How was the significant? In his book, Hip-Hop Production: Inside the Beats, Prince Charles Alexander, professor in the Music Production and Engineering Department, explained what Kool Herc was able to accomplish with that decision.
” “[I]f you had two turntables and a mixer, you could alternate a beat between the two turntables and extend a four-bar musical pattern—you know, that hot break section in the middle of that fly record—you could extend that musical pattern to infinity,” Alexander writes.
You can listen to a recording of Herc’s innovation on the turntables here.
We jump to 1979 and the Sugar Hill Gang showed the world no DJ, no problem. They performed their iconic hit “Rappers Delight” backed by a live band allowing them and the genre to reach bigger audiences the limited DJ experience at the time couldn’t.
By 1981, with the introduction of the drum machine, Hip-Hop fully embraced technology, expanding the reach of the DJ and putting the genre on the path to commercial success. and opening the door for more rappers and producers to get in the game.
The first three machines Linn LM-1, Roland TR-808, and Oberheim DMX paved the way by providing rappers like Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five with the tool, the DMX to craft an iconic record like “The Message” which Alexander says helped “change the sound of hip-hop—and eventually, modern music in general.”
The evolution didn’t stop there. The introduction of MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) which is described as a system or a musical language took things further by allowing all the music tech at the time to work together.
The MIDI protocol allows computers, synthesizers, controllers, sound modules, sound cards, samplers, and drum machines from different manufactures to speak with each other. A great example of a record that benefited from MIDI protocol was Salt-N-Pepa’s classic “Push It.”
Finally, we reached the Sampler, which allowed producers to take excerpts from other songs and incorporate them into new compositions. Ice Cube’s 1993 hit record, “It Was A Good Day,” which brilliantly sampled “Footprints in the Dark,” by the Isley Brothers is a great example Sampler being used to perfection.
Later on down the line “super producers” like Kanye West, Just Blaze and others would take sampling to greater heights.
Then there was Fruity Loops, which was a great tool for entry level producers, and hell, put Soulja Boy on the map, who honestly paved the way for other artists to make it big without a machine (record label) behind them.
With technology behind making music continuing to innovate and improve, we can only expect the tools to be even better, especially with the introduction of AI which could open the door for more producers and rappers.
2. How We Consume Music?
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No genre of music was more innovative in releasing its product than Hip-Hop; debate your aunties on that.
We have come a long way from handing out cassette tapes from car trunks, picking up bootleg CDs on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, and risking our computer’s health while illegally downloading songs off Limewire and Napster.
We are now in the digital age, and Hip-Hop evolved to take advantage of it. To his credit, Mr “First To Do Everything” Soulja Boy definitely was an innovator when he took advantage of the ringtone era, specifically with “Snap music.” Lil Wayne holds the record for most ringtones sold at 5 million with his Tha Carter III banger “Lollipop.”
Ringtones aren’t very common anymore, and if you still use one, you are definitely showing your age. In their place is having your songs played on social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, which is now helping break new artists in. Whether those artists are good and have staying power is another issue.
Speaking of ringtones, JAY-Z, who was ever so innovative partnered with Samsung to have his album, Magna Carta Holy Grail available to Galaxy S3, S4 and Note II phones owners via an app.
Hova made history with move as the album went platinum out the gate, thanks to Korean tech giant purchasing 1 million copies of the album and preloading it onto an app for Samsung users listening pleasure.
The digital age has also made music streaming huge, and no genre benefits more than hip-hop—services like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal. Speaking of Tidal, JAY-Z led a bunch of artists, including his former homie, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, his wife, Beyonce, and more, to sign onto Tidal, presenting it as an artist-friendly streaming service that would not only supply users with quality sounding music, and experiences but would also ensure artists were getting compensated adequately for their songs being streamed.
We all know how that played out, JAY-Z sold his majority stake in Tidal, and we have no clue what the other artists involved did. However, the platform is still a thing, and streaming is still massive, with artists like Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, and Megan Thee Stallion making dominating DSPs.
3. Reaching Out & Securing The Bag
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One area where Hip-Hop always seemed to set the trend was with communication devices. Before everyone walked around with smartphones in their pockets, your favorite rapper had a pager on their hip, plenty of quarters in their pockets, and access to the nearest payphone to reach out to someone or “secure the bag.”
Yes, we know the absolute struggle.
Before Apple and Samsung, Motorola was the king of the cellphone market.
Gordon Gekko (Wall Street) and Zack Morris (Saved By The Bell) showed up with the legendary Motorola DynaTac 8000X, sparking interest in owning a phone you could carry around with you all the time.
Unfortunately, that technology, while groundbreaking, was a bit cumbersome and not all that mobile because, honestly, who’s traveling with that big a** phone? By the 90s, the cellphone shrunk with the arrival of MicroTAC 9800x, the first flip phone on the market.
Your favorite rappers, like NaS, can be seen “using” the phone in his visual for “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” from his classic album Illmatic. The phone also appears in The Notorious B.I.G’s’ video for “Warning” alongside the Motorola Flare.
1996, the Motorola Startac came through and shook the building and was eventually one up by the sleeker Timeport. If you were a baller, you definitely also had the matching Motorola 2-Way Pager as seen in the videos for JAY-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” and Fabolous’ “Young’n (Holla Back)”.
What made the 2-Way Pager even more popular among the Hip-Hop crowd was that songs could easily turned into alerts. One of the greatest 2-Way pager alerts definitely belongs to Cadillac Tah for his banger “POV City Anthem.”
Eventually, Motorola got sidelined for Nextel and their phones, which featured a popular chirping feature allowing you to contact people via a walkie-talkie instead of wasting those precious phone minutes.
Nextel wasn’t the only phone service provider to use a walkie-talkie feature. Boost Mobile arrived on the scene with a variation of the technology and took full advantage of the popularity among the Hip-Hop community with its “Where You At” ad campaign, recruiting rappers The Game, Ludacris, and Kanye West for an epic commercial featuring the trio of Hip-Hop stars spitting over West-produced beat.
Eventually, a device called the Sidekick from Danger Research Inc., founded by three former Apple employees, was exclusively sold through T-Mobile, came through, and completely dominated the space.
The device introduced the idea of mobile internet to the world, allowing people to connect to AIM (AOL Instant Messanger) and T-Mail. The device made plenty of appearances attached to the hips of your favorite MCs, but its most prominent appearance had to be in JAY-Z’s “Excuse Me Miss” video.
Eventually, Sidekick’s dominance ended, and the Blackberry, once just a tool for Wall Street regulars, businessmen, and women, became popular in the culture. This was precisely because BBM Messenger was introduced before the iPhone ate Blackberry’s lunch and made it obsolete.
4. Covering The Culture
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The way Hip-Hop is covered has also drastically changed over the years. Initially, Ralph McDaniels was our ears to the streets, keeping us up to speed on what was happening in the culture through his iconic show Video Music Box.
MTV eventually came around with YO MTV Raps!, which initially only aired on MTV Europe from 1987 to the mid-90s and MTV US from August 1988 to August 1995.
Fab 5 Freddy was the original host before Dr.Dre and Ed Lover took over on weekdays, with Fab 5 Freddy holding down hosting duties on the weekends.
BET would have its own Hip-Hop-orientated shows with Rap City hosted by Big Tigger, which is blessed with some classic freestyles and BET Uncut.
Then came the internet and the “Blog Era,” with websites like Missinfo.TV, RapRadar, UHeardTheNew, Hip Hop Since 1987, 2DopeBoyz, NahRight, AllHipHop, HipHopDX, and more kept us up to date with all that’s going on in the world of Hip-Hop daily because no longer were reporters just confined to a desk, they could report on events, concerts and other shenanigans on the spot if the situation called for it.
But that has all changed again. While websites like ours are still alive and kicking, Podcasts and now Twitch streams have taken over.
The late Combat Jack, born Reggie Ossé, was the pioneer and widely considered to be Hip-Hop’s flagship podcaster with the Combat Jack Show. Other shows like the Joe Budden Podcast, Rap Radar, Drink Champs, Juan EP Is Life, and more fill the void left by Combat Jack’s passing.
Also, technology now allows anyone to turn their smartphones into podcast recording devices, so a studio isn’t even necessary. All you need are microphones and plastic cups to pour whatever you and your guest are going to be sipping during your conversation about the latest song, rap beef, or other Hip-Hop-related news.
Finally, streamers are also getting into the game thanks to platforms like Twitch and other networks that will rename nameless. Currently, Kai Cenat’s Twitch stream is becoming the go-to spot for your favorite Hip-Hop acts, or if you want some “insight” on the latest shenanigans, DJ Akademiks is also popular, unfortunately.
The game is changing, whether the old heads like it or not, so it’s time to adapt or get left behind.
Mac Miller’s Balloonerism bows at No. 1 across multiple Billboard album charts, including Top Album Sales, Top Rap Albums, Vinyl Albums and Indie Store Album Sales. Plus, seven of the album’s tracks dot the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Balloonerism’s songs date back to 2014, but the project was shelved in favor of other releases.
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Balloonerism is the second No. 1 on Top Album Sales for Miller, who died in 2018. It’s also his third leader on Top Rap Albums, his sixth chart-topper on Vinyl Albums and his first on the Indie Store Album Sales ranking.
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Balloonerism sold a little over 41,000 copies in the U.S. in the tracking week ending Jan. 23, according to Luminate. Vinyl sales comprise the bulk of that sum – 32,000, marking his best sales week ever on vinyl.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.
On Top Album Sales, Miller triumphs over a surging Gracie Abrams, whose The Secret of Us vaults 33-2 with 21,000 sold (up 689% after the vinyl and CD release of a deluxe edition of the album). Rounding out the rest of the top 10: the Wicked soundtrack (moving 2-3), Stray Kids’ HOP (5-4), Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (3-5), Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet (holding at No. 6), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft (9-7), ROSÉ’s Rosie (11-8), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (13-9) and Tyler, The Creator’s IGOR (15-10).
On the Billboard 200, Balloonerism debuts at No. 3 – the eighth top 10-charting set for Miller on that ranking.
Miller On the R&B/Hip-Hop & Rap Charts: Miller earns his third No. 1 on the Top Rap Albums chart. He first ruled with Blue Slide Park in 2011 and followed with The Divine Feminine in 2016, both of which led for one week. On the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums list, Balloonerism debuts at No. 2 andgives the late rapper his seventh top 10 effort. In addition to the No. 1s Blue Slide Park and The Divine Feminine, he also reached the region with Watching Movies With the Sound Off (No. 3 in 2013); GO:OD AM (No. 2, 2015); Swimming (No. 3, 2018) and Faces (No. 3, 2021).
Seven of Balloonerism’s tracks land on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, led by a No. 16 debut for “Funny Papers.” The arrival instantly makes it Miller’s second-highest peak on the chart among his 23 entries, trailing only the No. 10 best for “Good News” in 2020.
Notable among the other tracks, “5 Dollar Pony Rides” bolts 32-19 in its second week on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and wins the weekly Streaming Gainer and Sales Gainer honors. “DJ’s Chord Organ,” featuring SZA, begins at No. 23 and opens at No. 7 on the Hot R&B Songs chart.
Over On the Billboard Hot 100: On the all-genre, multi-metric Hot 100, four of the album’s songs debut: “Funny Papers” (No. 77), “5 Dollar Pony Rides” (No. 85), “DJ’s Chord Organ” (No. 95) and “Stoned” (No. 97).
Miller Hits a New Peak on the Billboard Artist 100 Chart: Activity surrounding Ballonerism drives Miller 66-2 on the Billboard Artist 100, a new peak for the rapper at his 83rd nonconsecutive week on the chart. The Billboard Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption – album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming – to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of the most popular artists in the U.S.