State Champ Radio Hip-Hop
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Migos rapper Takeoff, 28, was shot and killed early Tuesday morning (Nov. 1) in Houston, Texas. According to a spokesperson for the Houston Police Department, the rapper (born Kirshnik Khari Ball) — who was one third of the Migos trio alongside his uncle, Quavo, and cousin, Offset — was at a private party at a bowling alley in downtown Houston with Quavo around 2:35 a.m. when investigators say shots rang out during an afterparty attended by around 40 people.
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KHOU reported that police said someone started shooting, sparking guests to flee the area with one victim, Takeoff, shot in the head or neck. Two other unidentified victims were reportedly transported to a local hospital in private vehicles.
At press time a spokesperson for Offset had not returned requests for comment on the incident and a Houston PD spokesperson said there was no additional information on the injured and no suspects in custody.
According to TMZ, Takeoff and Quavo were at 810 Billiards & Bowling Houston playing dice at the afterparty when someone opened fire, with the site posting stills and video of Quavo and others gathered around Takeoff as Quavo yells for someone to help them; Quavo was not injured in the incident and at press time did not appear to have posted about the shooting.
The shocking killing came just hours after Quavo and Offset, under their side project duo name Unc & Phew, released a new Halloween-themed video for their song “Messy.” Billboard will update this story as more information is available.
The list of wealthiest hip-hop artists has gotten a pretty major shake-up, with a new face storming into the top 5 thanks to a burgeoning legal weed business even as former billionaire Kanye West slips to No. 3 after losing his 10-figure status following his recent string of antisemitic comments.
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Longtime Forbes writer Zack O’Malley Greenburg recently posted his “remix” of the Hip-Hop’s Wealthiest Artists list on his Zogblog, in which he revealed that Jay-Z remains atop the list as rap’s only certified billionaire in his first update of the hip-hop wealth list since 2019 when he was still an editor at the financial mag.
It should be no surprise that one of the take-aways from Greenburg’s list is that Ye (as West is now known), has had a major slip in status after the embattled rapper’s string of antisemitic remarks and promotion of a “White Lives Matter” shirt has caused his formerly sprawling music and fashion empire to largely evaporate over the past few weeks.
Greenburg writes that overall the top five hip-hop acts are worth a combined estimate of $3.8 billion, with the list toppers’ combined net worth rising 20% from a pre-pandemic (2019) total of $3.17 billion. Coming in at No. 1 is Jay-Z, whose fortune Greenburg estimates has increased to a personal-best $1.5 billion thanks to a diversified portfolio that includes investments in everything from music (Roc Nation entertainment) to real estate, spirits (Armand de Brignac champagne) and startups including Rihanna’s wildly successful Savage X Fenty brand.
Hip-hop’s first billionaire easily edged out Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, whose $1 billion fortune has reportedly surged thanks to his Ciroc vodka brand, half-stake in DeLeón tequila and entertainment brand Revolt, as well as his music catalog, start-up investments and what Greenburg dubbed, “a considerable collection of worldly possessions.”
The news was not as great for Ye, whose billionaire status was cut in half after the loss of a lucrative Adidas deal and a raft of other marketing and branding deals over the past few weeks. West still came in at No. 3 this time around thanks to his 5% stake in ex-wife Kim Kardashian’s lucrative Skims shapewear line and the rights to his master recordings and music publishing.
Greenburg said that he could not reach anyone who could agree on the current value of Ye’s Yeezy brand, “but there’s a consensus it’s still worth a lot more than nothing,” adding that “West could be headed for a cash crunch if he continues his current trajectory, potentially forcing him to sell or take out loans against his major assets.”
The biggest surprise on the list was the new No. 4: Bay Area rapper Gilbert “Berner” Milam, whose 30% stake in the Cookies cannabis empire — which sells 70 weed strains and thousands of marijuana-related products in 48 stores in 7 countries and 20 U.S. states — is the foundation of his fortune. “If it [marijuana] goes federal, and the market wants to see us with all these stores and production, then we’ll roll ‘em all up,” Berner told Greenburg earlier this year about the prospect of marijuana legalization rolling out nationwide. “So we’re achieving what these other companies are doing without having to put up our own capital.”
The top 5 is rounded out by another former reported billionaire, Dr. Dre. The producer who a decade ago called himself the “first billionaire in hip-hop” actually peaked at $800 million according to Greenburg after tax payments took a big chunk of his cut from the $3 billion sale of his Beats empire to Apple. The writer said a combination of personal and philanthropic spending has further reduced Dre’s fortune to around $400 million, including the $70 million he and Beats co-founder and former Interscope boss Jimmy Iovine spent to found a music academy at the University of Southern California, as well as the $40 million Dre spent to buy Tom Brady and ex-wife Gisele Bundchen’s former L.A. mansion.
Greenburg also noted that paperwork from Dre’s recent divorce revealed his net worth to be in the $450 million range before the first half of a $100 million settlement to his ex-wife. The writer said he tabulated the figures by combining his decade-plus of experience covering the business of hip-hop along with valuing every known asset and liability in each artist’s portfolio and tapping a “wide range” of sources in the music industry, including managers, lawyers and the artists themselves. Billboard is not able to independently verify Greenburg’s reporting.
M.I.A. didn’t dress up over the weekend, but on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 30) the “Paper Planes” rapper posted what she said was a “scary picture for Halloween” in which she casually posed with controversial conservative commentator Candace Owens.
“#FreeSpeech,” M.I.A. captioned the post — which Owens re-posted — in which she stands with a neutral look next to a smiling Owens. The outspoken conservative talker’s name was in headlines earlier this month when she appeared at Kanye West’s Paris Fashion Week show modeling one of Ye’s provocative “White Lives Matter” t-shirts.
The stunt was met with widespread backlash from the supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement, especially given phrase’s ties to white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in their response to BLM. After getting temporarily booted from Twitter and Instagram for posting antisemitic messages, Ye has reportedly been in talks to buy the right-wing friendly social network Parler, which is owned by Owens’ husband, George Farmer.
Known for her strong, sometimes in-your-face political and social statements, M.I.A.’s snap with Owens seemed to divide her fanbase, with a number of comments under the picture saying it was a step too far. “Taking your music out of my playlist,” wrote one, with another joking, “There’s a vampire beside you, that *is* scary.” When a commenter joked, “Ah yes. The scariest thing… a Republican?,” someone responded, “No…a Republican who mocks slavery, George Floyd’s death, and other important matters. Candace owens knows what she is doing and she doesn’t care bc it keeps her relevant on some ridiculous level.”
Other comments included, “Not scary. Just disappointing” and “It’s kinda ironic that the one who made the ‘Born Free’ music video is now posing with someone who wore a White Lives Matter shirt,” while one featured DJ Khaled intoning his classic tagline, “Congratulations you played yourself.”
Earlier this month M.I.A. (born Mathangi Arulpragasam) raised some eyebrows when she doubled-down on her anti-vaccine stance while weighing in on the $965 million verdict against conspiracy theorist and Infowars host Alex Jones. “If Alex Jones pays for lying shouldn’t every celebrity pushing vaccines pay too?” she tweeted in reference to the massive sanction Jones was hit with for falsely and repeatedly claiming the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting massacre was staged by actors as part of a conspiracy to take away American’s guns.
Owens is an expert at stoking the outrage machine, recently posting a teaser for a documentary she created (The Greatest Lie Ever Sold) and boasting in the caption “I broke Black Lives Matter.” Over the weekend she also appeared to question the veracity of reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, was brutally attacked at the couple’s California home by a man who authorities say amplified antisemitic and white supremacist ideas online.
“I am hearing A LOT of stuff about this Pelosi story… Nothing confirmed yet but this could get interesting for sure,” Owens wrote a day after police had identified the attacker, who stormed the home shouting “Where is Nancy?” — a phrase also used by some of the Jan. 6 insurrectionist as they searched for the democratic leader while storming the Capitol. The alleged assailant was expected to be charged on Monday (Oct. 31) with felonies that include attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, burglary and elder abuse.
Owens’ apparent questioning of the facts in the Pelosi attack was similar in tone to a message posted, then deleted, by new Twitter owner Elon Musk. The “free-speech absolutist” SpaceX/Tesla boss posted an unfounded anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theory on Sunday morning based on a report from a site NBC News said has a history of posting false information. “There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye,” Musk wrote alongside a link to the site in response to a tweet from former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton about the suspect’s far-right conspiracy theories and what she said was the Republican party’s penchant for “spread[ing] hate and deranged conspiracy theories.”
At press time M.I.A. — who has been teasing her upcoming MATA album — did not give any additional context for her snap with Owens.
See M.I.A.’s post below.
Sean “P. Diddy” Combs went super-method for his Halloween costume over the weekend. The hip-hop impresario slipped into a frighteningly accurate version of Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the Joker from the Dark Knight series, swooning around town in his purple suit with green vest, green hair, white face paint and the character’s bloody Glasgow Smile.
In classic Diddy fashion, he chronicled his transformation in a video in which he sat in a chair getting his look together and wished everyone a happy, safe Halloween followed by one in which he laughs maniacally in character while brandishing a giant fake gun as a hand grenade falls out of his pocket. “Hello my friends, I’m the Joker,” he wrote in the caption. “I’m highjacking Halloween! Hahahaha.”
The fun continued in another clip in which he pulled up on Tyler, the Creator and tried to stop the rapper’s vehicle while maniacally telling the MC he’s the “my favorite rapper in the world” while pulling on the door handle of his SUV. “This is top tier,” Tyler says as Diddy/Joker implores him get out of the ride.
In what looks like an epic night, Diddy ranted on the street as the Joker, whispering “Tonight is going to be a special night. Everybody’s so serious,” in a menacing voice while hyping his plans to visit “Club Love.” That video got plenty of love from Diddy’s famous followers, including reported paramour City Girls Yung Miami, who posted a series of crying laughing emoji, as well as Nicole Scherzinger, who wrote, OMG BRILLIANT” and New York hip-hop legend Fab 5 Freddy, who alternated crying laughing and pumpkin emoji.
In other snaps Diddy/Joker hung his head outside a cop car and lit up the night with a flamethrower
Check out Diddy as the Joker below.
Citizens of Springfield watch out! Lizzo moved into town over the weekend with a killer Halloween costume that paid homage to the the cartoon town’s legendary matriarch: Marge Simpson. In what is destined to be an all-time classic get-up, the “Better in Color” singer covered her whole body in yellow makeup and slipped on Marge’s signature towering blue hair for a look that was hilariously terrifying.
“I AM HIM — HIMMY NEUTRON — MARGE HIMPSON,” the rapper captioned a series of pics in which she posed as Marge, complete with red heels and a matching strand of pearls accenting a shimmery green dress as she perfected a meme in which Simpson covered her face with her hands.
Lizzo also posted a shot of Marge krumping and a clip honoring the Animation Domination line-up in which Marge mines to a recording of another famous Sunday night cartoon mom: Family Guy‘s Lois Griffin yelling “Peter!” She explained the mash-up in the caption, which read, “The crossover episode y’all been waiting for.”
The rapper/flautist dug deeper on Friday night when she recreated the signature look of rapper Blueface’s girlfriend, Chrisean Rock. Wearing jean shorts and a white shirt, with a tooth blacked out and rocking door knocker earrings and a throat tattoo, Lizzo mimed along to Rock’s song, “Vibe” in one video and recreated Chrisean’s famous “I don’t know who to slap” moment in another.
According to TMZ, the latter get-up sparked some backlash given the frequently contentious, sometimes violent relationship between Blueface and Rock, which includes Chrisean getting detained and arrested in August after she was accused of punching the rapper in their latest public brawl and Blueface allegedly fighting Rock’s father a month later. Rock, however, appeared to appreciate the homage, which she retweeted over the weekend.
Check out pics of Lizzo as Marge Simpson and Rock below.
Cardi B and Offset have two kids together, and Cardi seems to be planning for a third.
Already a mom to 4-year-old Kulture and 1-year-old Wave, she mused over adding another baby to the family on Twitter Sunday (Oct. 30).
Cardi shared three new photos of baby Wave with fans this weekend, gushing, “My son so fire.”
“I can’t wait to get business finish and have my third,” the rapper revealed in her tweet.
Fans left supportive messages in the comments, though some suggested that they’d really love to hear a new album before the Invasion of Privacy hitmaker focuses on expanding her family. “Nah sis, we need that album first!” one wrote.
The hip-hop power couple, who got married in 2017 and had a few bumps in the road over the years, welcomed Kulture on July 10, 2018 and Wave on Sept. 4, 2021. Cardi and Offset shared sweet family snapshots to celebrate Wave’s first birthday in September. “I LOVE YOU BIG MAN!!” Offset captioned a gallery on Instagram, which featured a heartwarming video of himself cradling Wave as a newborn.
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Offset also has three more children — Jordan, Kody and Kalea — from previous relationships.
See Cardi B’s cute tweet below.
Jack Harlow pulled double duty as host and musical guest of SNL and was part of an episode with some of the most memorable sketches of this season of Saturday Night Live, so far.
As host of Oct. 29’s Saturday Night Live, he set the scene for the night ahead with a laid-back monologue that showed he has no problem playing around and making fun of himself.
Bringing up some of the top jokes about himself he’s seen on the internet, Harlow said, “One guy said, ‘I don’t know why y’all think Jack Harlow is so special. You can find somebody who looks like him at any local gas station.”
“I’ve heard them say I look like ‘If you tried to draw Justin Timberlake from memory,’” he recalled.
The rapper added, “I think my favorite one might be ‘Jack Harlow looks like the guy who rips the tickets in half at the movie theater.’”
“I’ve also heard people try to romantically link me and Lil Nas X as an item,” said Harlow. “I’m gonna tell you right now, no. Everything that happened between us was casual. And consensual. And one of the best nights of my entire life … working with him, working with him.”
A couple of the best sketches of the night starred Harlow, including a hilarious AA meeting that somehow turned into a pitch for a Pixar film and featured a surprise cameo from Tom Hanks. Hanks returned for a reprise of his classic David S. Pumpkins character, with Harlow along for the ride.
Another SNL sketch led by Harlow imagined him joining the ladies of The View, and wooing Ego Nwodim’s Whoopi. “Don’t compliment me all quiet like that, Jack,” she said. “I have been closed for business since before you were born.” Harlow shot back, “Well, I’m looking forward to the grand reopening.”
Harlow also appeared as a giant tampon, a Kentucky groom with a Joker of a best man, and a tableside flair bartender with some not-so-smooth synchronized moves (with Bowen Yang). In a cut-for-time, pre-taped sketch, he was the star of a JNCO jeans ad with a twist.
He also brought Come Home the Kids Miss You vibes to SNL, with a medley of “Lil Secret” and “First Class,” plus a separate performance of “State Fair.” See both of those performances here after you watch his monologue and sketches below.
Jack Harlow Monologue – SNL
AA Meeting – SNL
The View: Jack Harlow – SNL
David Pumpkins Returns – SNL
Halloween Red Carpet Show – SNL
Joker Wedding – SNL
Bartenders – SNL
JNCO Longs – SNL (Cut for Time)
Jack Harlow performed songs from his latest album while pulling double duty as host and musical guest during Saturday Night Live on Oct. 29.
In between his comical sketches, the Louisville rapper delivered three tracks from his sophomore album, Come Home the Kids Miss You, which reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 in May.
For his first song, with an introduction from Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks, Jack brought some major 1970s disco vibes for a split performance of “Lil Secret” and “First Class,” the latter of which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year. Dressed in a cream-colored jacket and matching turtleneck, the 24-year-old rapper slid smoothly across the multi-colored checkered dance floor with a shiny disco ball hanging above and surrounded by dancers.
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Harlow returned later in the Halloween-themed episode, this time with an introduction by SNL cast member Cecily Strong, for a laid-back performance “State Fair,” appearing alone onstage amid a colorful array of neon lights and donning a simple light green hoodie with black vest.
Jack followed fellow hip-hop artist Megan Thee Stallion, who also recently pulled double duty as host and musical guest on SNL. While it marked his first hosting run, the artist performed on SNL last year and appeared in a bit about NFTs that parodied Eminem’s “Without Me.” Earlier this month, Harlow also got some late-night TV practice by co-hosting The Tonight Show alongside Jimmy Fallon.
Watch Harlow’s SNL performances below, and see the full episode on Hulu here. The streaming service is currently offering a 30-day free trial, which you can sign up for here. The show is also live streamed on Peacock.
“American Pie” singer Don McLean has added his name to the list of artists calling out Kanye West for the rapper’s recent barrage of antisemitic hate speech. The singer released a statement on Friday (oct. 28) strongly condemning Ye (as the MC is now known) for a weeks-long series of interviews in which West has repeatedly made comments disparaging of the Jewish people, actions that have resulted in Kanye losing nearly every aspect of his once-formidable music and fashion empire.
“Lately a flood of antisemitic invective has been triggered by the ranting of a stupid attention-seeking fool we all know,” McLean wrote in the statement that did not mention Ye by name. “I want to say I stand with my Jewish friends and I stand with the state of Israel. When this kind of thing happens we should realize why the state of Israel must be respected and protected.”
McLean noted that he lived in Israel on-and-off from 1978-1982 and he “grew to love the country and the people. Living there changed my life forever.” The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks antisemitic behavior in the U.S. recently reported that there were 2,717 antisemitic incidents in 2021, a 34 percent rise from the year before for an average of more than seven such attacks per day.
The Washington Post reported this week that longtime watchdogs of antisemitism say the type of overtly derogatory comments made recently by Ye — as well as former president Donald Trump — are not new, but that the unapologetic manner in which they’ve been delivered in public forums is concerning at a time when incidents of harassment, vandalism and violence against Jews is at its highest level in the U.S. since the 1970s.
“Empirically, something is different. The level of public animosity towards Jews is higher than it’s been in recent memory,” Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL told the paper. “While at a generalized level, antisemitic attitudes have dropped, the incidents have risen because there is less shame. People feel they can say and do anything.”
Over the past several weeks West has been on a bizarre media tour in which he has doubled and tripled-down on comments disparaging Jews after already raising eyebrows by promoting a “White Lives Matter” shirt at his recent Paris Fashion Week show. As a result, over the past week West has been dropped by his reps at CAA, lost partnerships with Adidas, The Gap and Balenciaga, had his Essentials playlist pulled from Apple Music, his products taken off shelves at TJ Maxx and was cut off by Foot Locker. The end of the Adidas deal will reportedly result in a $246 million loss for the company this year and is believed to be the linchpin in Ye’s loss of billionaire status.
In further blows to the once-esteemed rapper’s tattered public image, he was unceremoniously escorted out of the Skechers office on Tuesday (Oct. 26) after showing up “uninvited,” even as his wax figure was removed from Madame Tussauds London and his Donda Academy basketball team was bounced from a tournament over his hate speech.
Lately a flood of antisemitic invective has been triggered by the ranting of a stupid attention-seeking fool we all know. I want to say I stand with my Jewish friends and I stand with the state of Israel. When this kind of thing happens we should realize why the state of Israel must be respected and protected.
Add Stephen Colbert to the increasingly lengthy list of people who are banning Kanye West. The embattled rapper (who now goes by Ye) has seen his once-formidable music and fashion empire crumble to dust, and on Thursday night (Oct. 28) he got the bad news that he will never be invited to visit the Ed Sullivan Theater, either.
In the midst of the outrage over West’s repeated amplification of hateful antisemitic tropes, Colbert tried to inject some levity into what is otherwise a not-at-all funny story about hate speech in the monologue to last night’s show. “After much thought and soul-searching I, Stephen Colbert, am banning Kanye West from the Ed Sullivan Theater,” the host announced grimly to hearty applause from the studio audience.
“Have to. I have to. Line in the sand,” Colbert said before getting serious for a moment and running down a list of completely fake “high profile collabs” the two men have (not) released. Among them: their collection of “spreadable jams” entitled “Strawbeezy Jelleezy,” as well as the now-cancelled release of their duets album, Ye & Phen: Sing Fiddler on the Roof.
“I know this has been too long in coming, I have no excuses for why I didn’t do this before,” Colbert said of the action he took to ban the rapper. Well, maybe one very good one. “Except, perhaps, that he has never been on the show, had no plans to be on the show, we’ve never asked him to be on the show and I am not sure he is aware that I have a show.”
But, Colbert said, he had to take immediate action for fear that Ye might “show up at any moment,” kind of like West did earlier this week when he arrived uninvited at Skechers headquarters and was summarily escorted from the premises. That move came after Ye lost his mega-lucrative deal with Adidas due to the company’s disdain for his hate speech against Jews, a decision that former billionaire West has claimed cost him nearly $2 billion.
“In five years the idea of an unannounced visit from Kanye has gone from ‘Amazing!’ to: ‘sir, you need to leave this Skechers,” Colbert joked. “It gets worse. Unlike with Adidas, Kanye never had any deal with Skechers, apparently Kanye is so desperate he’s just driving around searching Google maps for ‘shoes near me.’”
Watch Colbert’s monologue below.
