Hip-Hop
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Air Drake is getting a facelift. The Toronto rapper recently previewed Air Drake 2’s redesign on Instagram, and it features a message that confirms your suspicions: “Chances are she’s on board.” Air Drake’s first iteration had the message, “If you’re reading this we left,” a play on his classic 2015 mixtape If You’re Reading This […]
Yung Miami is breaking her silence on allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse against ex-boyfriend Diddy, reviving her REVOLT series Caresha Please on Thursday night (Aug. 8) for a sit-down interview with friend and fellow rapper Saucy Santana. Santana directly asked the City Girls rapper (born Caresha Brownlee) whether Diddy (real name: Sean Combs) had […]
With claims of uncleared samples back in the news, Billboard dug up every case that’s been filed against the controversial rapper. Spoiler alert: It’s a lot.
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Hip-Hop has lost another contributor to the culture. M.O.P. affiliate Foxx has passed, and her peers are honoring her legacy.
As reported by HipHopDX the Bronx, New York, native has transitioned. Known for her work as the group’s road manager and her contributions to records like “It’s Hard To Tell,” she became synonymous with with the M.O.P. brand. Last weekend, DJ Kid Capri announced her passing on social media via a very touching Instagram post. “I went to the hospital to see you last night, what I saw had me walking out the room crying, a week ago or so you requested that people come see you before aug 2, that’s when you wanted to be taking off of the respirator, yesterday was aug 2nd, I would have had so much regret if I didn’t make it there,” he wrote.
He went on to also reveal the two grew up together and she was a member of a rap girl group he formed. “I had fun making you, Kim, Georgia and @qtpepsi rehearse the routines I was writing, after that, you was influenced by music for real, then years after that, you linked up with @famem.o.p @billydanzem.o.p the great hip hop group M.O.P.” Soon news of her passing spread, prompting her peers to celebrate her life.
Longtime collaborator DJ Premier also shared sorrow as well. “I’m hurt in more ways than one but your pain is gone now. Even tho I saw you in the hospital Tuesday, it sucks to get that call. We all are gonna miss you so much but the fun times are documented in our souls. You were HardCore and Sweet at the same time,” his caption read with accompanying behind-the-scenes footage of M.O.P. and Gangstarr on tour in 1997.
The likes of Fat Joe, Chuck D, Alchemist, Royce Da 5’9″ and Cam’ron also shared their condolences online. Foxx had been battling scleroderma, an autoimmune disease for the last 15 years. She was 55. You can see Foxx get busy during an M.O.P. performance with Busta Rhymes in 2004 below.
If you haven’t heard, Drake dumped 100 gigabytes of content online Tuesday, and in the second folder, there’s a video clip that shows Drake, 40, and some friends discussing when to expect Jay-Z‘s “Talk Up” last-minute feature verse from the Toronto rapper’s fifth solo album Scorpion.
So apparently, Jay was on tour with his wife Beyoncé and planned to record and submit his verse afterward at the venue. In the clip, Drake tells 40 he plans to take a quick two-hour power nap so he can be around just in case the veteran rapper has some questions or concerns.
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Journalist Elliott Wilson posted the clip on his Instagram, and Jay’s longtime DJ and engineer Young Guru decided to gives fans the backstory to how they were able to get Drake the verse on time in the comments.
Between having to DJ during the show, being in charge of building a makeshift studio on the fly at the venue, and being late to a party he was booked to DJ months in advance, Guru’s night was pretty hectic. Here’s how he remembers the night in question:
We are on [the On the Run II Tour]. Remember I’m the DJ. Hov hit me and simply said, “Set up a studio in the venue.” I’m like, “What?” But, of course, I get it done. We go out and do a two-hour show.
Mind you, he has to remember every verse from every album. No backing tracks. I’m DJing, I can’t miss a cue or [musical director Omar Edwards] would kill me. We finish the show. We go back in the room to finish the verse, but the problem is I have an afterparty. I can’t [remember] what city or country in Europe, but understand, my parties have been set up months before the tour.
The promotor waited in [the] parking lot for two hours and I can’t tell him why I’m late. By the time Hov finished, the Internet that we set up from Live Nation is gone. Everyone is gone. I had to tether my phone to my computer to send the session to [Drake’s producer Noah “40” Shebib]. I made it to the club just in time for my set.
When y’all hear this work I sometimes wonder if you understand how much goes into it!!!! Classic Nights!!!! And I killed my set lol.
Watch the resurfaced clip below:
The 100gigs.org site features a treasure trove of things like how a woman inspired “Hotline Bling” and three new songs with 21 Savage, Young Thug and our recent cover star Latto.
Busta Rhymes visited Tom Hardy on a movie set Tuesday (Aug. 6) and teased a potentail collaboration with the actor. Posting a picture with the actor and a video of them embracing on his Instagram, Rhymes wrote about how grateful he was to meet Hardy. “I keep telling y’all that blessings don’t, so we won’t […]
R&B singer-songwriter SZA is hitting pause on her live performances for the foreseeable future.
The “Kill Bill” singer made the announcement on social media following her headlining set at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival on Aug. 5.
Yesterday was my last show for a while . Finally bout to get my life together thank u God .— SZA (@sza) August 5, 2024
“Yesterday was my last show for a while,” SZA wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Finally bout to get my life together thank u God.”
The unexpected news comes after an extensive run of festival appearances and tour dates for the Grammy-winning artist.
SZA has been on the road since early 2023, performing 63 shows across the globe for her SOS Tour before launching into a packed summer festival schedule. Recent high-profile sets included Lollapalooza in Chicago, Glastonbury in the U.K., and her final performance at Osheaga.
Despite stepping back from the stage, fans shouldn’t worry about a lack of new music. During her Lollapalooza set, SZA debuted an unreleased track titled “Cry Baby,” telling the crowd, “It’s not out, but it will be.”
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She’s also been teasing a new project called Lana, which she says will feature previously unheard material.
“Will be dropping the leaks and outtakes from SOS as promised as the deluxe asap,” SZA shared on X in March. “Lana deserves more time and music no one’s ever heard before.” She’s also previously hinted at a potential collaboration with Paramore.
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SZA’s creative juices continue to flow even as she takes a break from performing. She recently shared her admiration for fellow artists on Instagram, notably posting about Chappell Roan’s performance at Lollapalooza.
“She makes me wanna keep making new music n art forever,” SZA captioned a video.
The singer’s decision to take a break comes at a time when she’s at the peak of her commercial and critical success.
Her sophomore album SOS, released in December 2022, has been a chart powerhouse. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and has shown remarkable staying power.
SZA’s chart dominance extends beyond albums. Her single “Kill Bill” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in April 2023, becoming her first chart-topper as a solo artist. The track showed stamina on the charts, spending multiple weeks in the top 10.
Ye and Ty Dolla $ign are bringing their newly dropped Vultures 2 album to Utah. On Saturday (Aug. 3), Ty announced on Instagram that he and Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — will present their Vultures sequel to fans in Salt Lake City on Aug. 9. A specific venue for the SLC date […]
California rapper and musical artist Shwayze is back with a new Cali reggae-inspired smokeout anthem and video. Shwayze teams up with Wiz Khalifa to release the vibey “Smoke to Soon,” the fourth single off his upcoming album, Shwaycation, which drops Sept. 13 through Ineffable Records. Filmed in the San Fernando Valley at locally beloved KH Cinnamon […]
If you don’t remember 50 Cent‘s name on the original lineup of artists for the iconic 2022 Super Bowl halftime show featuring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem that’s because, according to 50, “they” didn’t want him there.
In a new feature in The Hollywood Reporter, 50 goes into detail about the drama behind the scenes of the Super Bowl LVI performance that featured him as a surprise guest, but which he said almost didn’t happen. “They wanted to leave me out of it. They didn’t want me there,” 50 said, echoing a since-deleted Instagram post from Sept. 2022 in which he said, “[Eminem] is the man, he wouldn’t do the show without me,” after the performance won three Emmy awards; rapper N.O.R.E. also mentioned the initial snub on his podcast around the time.
Asked who “they” were, 50 said it was Jay-Z’s Roc Nation who didn’t want him on stage that night. “Eminem wouldn’t do it without me,” 50 (born Curtis Jackson) reiterated about Marshall Mathers, who first signed Jackson and helped him release his smash 2003 debut studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. “That’s how I ended up on the show because he was not coming if I didn’t do it. When that happens, you go, ‘Damn, so you just lost Eminem because you didn’t bring 50? Damn. All right. Bring 50 then.’ But if it was up to them, they would not have me there. I’m the surprise. I’m not on the bill at all. But they couldn’t get Em to do it without me.”
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The long history of mutual admiration between the two MCs will extend into the future thanks to an upcoming project from 50’s G-Unit Film and Television company, which he said is developing a series based on Em’s 2002 8 Mile feature film. “50 is like a brother to me,” Eminem told THR. “50 has proven again and again that there’s really nothing he can’t do, and nobody gets in the way of him getting it done.”
The story also notes that 50 is expanding his already sprawling TV holdings with an animated series for Amazon Freevee called Lady Danger Agent of B.O.O.T.I. featuring Nicki Minaj. “He’s a blueprint to what resilience looks like,” Minaj said of 50, whose expansive TV portfolio includes the six-season Starz hit Power — and spin-offs Ghost, Raising Kanan and Force — as well as another Starz series, BMF and upcoming shows including the boxing drama Fightland and Queen Nzinga, about an African warrior queen.
“Whenever he’s been counted out in the real world or within the entertainment business, he’s risen to the occasion and come out triumphant. He’s smart. He’s a businessman,” Minaj added. “I can see past the ‘funny 50’ — I see a very deep thinker. He’s honest. He’s mastered the chess game of reinvention throughout many eras of music, entertainment and social media. Yet he still somehow always seems to remain authentic. That is a very difficult feat.”
50 also said he’s launching his own FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channel, building his own film studio in Shreveport, LA and working on a novel about a Black female Texas Ranger.