State Champ Radio Hip-Hop
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Cardi B is celebrating the sixth anniversary of her debut album, Invasion of Privacy — and throwing in a little teaser of what’s to come next. Invasion of Privacy was released in 2018, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and earning a Grammy win for best rap album at the 2019 […]
What’s rap beef?
Rap beef is when the best claim the throne. This has happened throughout the genre’s history. Battling on wax is etched in stone, the ritual is one of the game’s 10 Rap Commandments. Rap’s been a game of thrones since the very beginning. Do the knowledge on MC Shan and KRS-One or Kool Moe Dee vs. LL Cool J. Carrying on tradition, last night J. Cole responded to Kendrick’s sneak attack on “7 Minute Drill,” the last track on his surprise mixtape Might Delete Later. However, he sounded like his heart wasn’t fully in it like when Nino had to put G-Money down, just as he alluded to on the song. And instead of a headshot like most expected, Cole instead fired a shot in the air. His retort wasn’t enough.
Though Cole gets right to it and is very direct, he never crosses the lines that need to be crossed. To be fair, he does say this is just a warning shot and this thing is just getting started. But when you first hear Cole spit, “Now I’m front of the line with a comfortable lead/How ironic, soon as I got it, now he want somethin’ with me” as he runs down his thoughts on Lamar’s catalog and claims to have overtaken him in the power rankings, your ears perk up and you start rubbing your hands together, expecting a proper reply. But then he just coasts along until the beat switches to something a little more sinister courtesy of Griselda stalwart Conductor Williams and your ears perk up again.
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And still, Cole plays with his food and never truly handles his business. Instead, he comes off reluctant to really engage, spitting, “My text flooded with the hunger for a toxic reply/I’m hesitant, I love my brother, but I’m not gonna lie/I’m powered up for real, that shit would feel like swattin’ a fly/Four albums in twelve years, n—a, I can divide.” Cole knew he needed to send a shot back, especially before the weekend of his annual Dreamville Fest. What’s interesting is “7 Minute Drill” would’ve hit a little harder if, instead of just coopting Jay lyrics, he went full Jigga and premiered it live on stage and not on streaming services on New Music Fridays. He missed the opportunity to put Kenny on that Dreamville screen.
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When Jay-Z was closing out his Volume era at the end of the ‘90s, he and Nas were the Defacto Kings of Rap with acts like Prodigy and Scarface not far behind. Jay was aware of the stakes and the history of this thing of ours. He understood what it took to be the best. So, at Hot 97’s annual Summer Jam concert in 2001, he boldly reached for the crown and snatched it. During his set he performed “Takeover” for the first time, months before it would appear on his sixth album, The Blueprint, and called Nas out by name. That moment was so seismic and important to hip-hop history, people forgot that he brought out Michael Jackson during that same performance! The stakes were that high. Now, over 20 years later, another band of kings must usher in a new era.
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The Big 3 Civil War has officially begun. Last month, Future and Metro Boomin dropped their chart topping collab album We Don’t Trust You. It’s essentially the equivalent of the Mean Girls burn book directed at Drake. On the album’s sixth track, “Like That,” there was a hidden pipe bomb that reverberated throughout every corner of hip-hop. It was very slick on Future and Metro’s part and fitting that they and Lamar chose that song to launch their offensive, with its Rodney-O & Joe Cooley sample serving as a reminder that at the end of the day, this is hip-hop.
Those saying Kendrick’s verse is mid (for the record, they’re delusional, but for the sake of an argument let’s go with it) are missing the point. The “Like That” verse has the potential to be the Big 3 Era’s defining moment. It’s closer to Jay on that Summer Jam stage performing “Takeover” than it is to Lamar’s first attempt at claiming the throne with ‘Control” back in 2013. We Don’t Trust You and Kenny’s vitriol have sparked the beginnings of a power struggle atop Mt. Rap and the game will be better for it in the long run.
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“Like That” is the number one song in the country. It’s being played in sports arenas and during “NBA on TNT” halftime shows. This is a page taken out of Drake’s own playbook. His Meek Mill diss “Back to Back” was made to be played in clubs and on the radio; you couldn’t escape it. The song peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and put a dent in Meek’s resume forever. Now, Drake and Cole find themselves in the position Nas was in when Jay said his name on that Summer Jam stage. Cole’s first rebuttal fell flat, but he still has a chance to drop an “Ether.” Drake, however, should pay attention to the response J. Cole is getting. He now knows that warmup jabs aren’t going to get it done, nor will they appease the fans thirsty to watch the game’s three biggest stars go bar-for-bar. Drake needs a “No Vaseline” or, you know, another “Back to Back.”
But one thing is for sure: The Great Rap Battle of 2024 is here, folks.
By now you may have seen the sweat-drenched videos of former world heavyweight champ Mike Tyson, 57, prepping for his July 20 match with YouTuber-turned-professional-boxer Jake Paul. The bout — which will air on Netflix from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX — will feature the champ taking on 27-year-old Paul in Iron Mike’s first official fight in nearly two decades.
And now we have a clip of Paul’s work-out regime, which appears to involve easily leveling defenseless non-pugilists. In a clip uploaded on Thursday (April 4), Paul positions MAGA rapper Lil Pump just so in the middle of a boxing ring. After Paul asks if he’s ready, Pump, with his be-gloved arms in the air, takes the shot and immediately crumples to the ground in agony after Paul unleashes a single left hook into the unguarded “Big MAGA Steppin” MC’s midsection.
“Ohhhhhhhh!” a shirtless Pump yelps in agony as he crawls around the mat clutching his midsection, his face red from the screaming. With a crew of videographers swarming around the prostrate Pump to capture the clickbait moment for viral posterity — mission accomplished — Paul smiles and says, “I told you not to do it.”
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The just-for-the-cameras stunt was clearly meant to help hype the fight — as Paul was only wearing one glove — and Pump appeared to seriously, and immediately, regret agreeing to take the mighty blow. “Jake Paul is officially 10-1 [face sweating emoji],” Pump captioned the video. “Not gonna lie, that liver shot made me feel like I was dying [crying laughing emoji].”
While Tyson has been hitting the gym hard, over the past few weeks Paul appeared to be easing his way into his latest bout, posting a video on March 26 of him partying and chugging champagne with the classic trash-talking caption, “Day 1 of sending Mike Tyson back to his podcast for good.” By the next day, though, he posted an update from his 6,000-foot elevation training camp in Colorado Springs, where he said he was training hard with Olympians, followed by another in which he openly taunted Tyson, saying, “Mikey, Mikey, your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.”
Last month, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan posted pics with Tyson, who has been training at the rocker’s Cottonwood, AZ Verde Valley BJJ martial arts school. The legendarily hard-hitting boxer with a career 50-6 record (including 44 knockouts), has been posting sweat-drenched videos of his intense workouts in the lead-up to his first fight since his controversial draw against fellow former champ Roy Jones Jr. in Nov. 202 in an exhibition match. Tyson is 21 years from his last win and both men are expected to take home major paydays for the headline-grabbing showdown.
Since his improbably pivot from Bizaardvark and YouTube prank video fame, Paul has fought a series of MMA fighters, former professional boxers and basketball players, boosting his record to date to 9-1 (6 by KO), with his one loss coming at the hands of the only active boxer he’s faced to date, Tommy Fury, in Feb. 2023.
Watch the one-punch knockout video below.
Five Finger Death Punch released the digital deluxe version of their 2022 album AfterLife on Friday (April), which features four new bonus tracks. Among those freshies is an unexpected collab with late Ruff Ryders rapper DMX.
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The song, “This Is the Way,” comes complete with a video directed by X’s longtime collaborator Hype Williams, which mixes black and white performance footage of FFDP with photos, cartoon images and memorial murals of DMX. “Ya’ll heard it through the grapevine (what’s that?)/ Expect I’m gonna take mine/ Name of the game is get in where you fit in (what?)/ Dog, I fit in at the beginning,” DMX growls in the first verse in his signature rough-edged style.
“Music is meant to be universal and without boundaries, and it starts at the top with us, the artists,” said FFDP guitarist Zoltan Bathory in a statement. “We have always embraced the mixing of genres, whether it be the remake of LL Cool J’s ‘Mama Said Knock You Out’ featuring Tech N9ne as a guest, or our collaboration with blues warrior Kenny Wayne Shepherd, country star Brantley Gilbert, and Brian May, the legendary guitarist of Queen, on the song ‘Blue on Black.’”
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The release did not mention when the DMX vocals were recorded, but Bathory added that the idea of a collab with the “X Gon Give It To Ya” MC had been “in discussion for years, and it was a long and winding road to turn this particular item on our wish list into reality. He was a lyrical warrior, a true original who spoke his mind incorruptibly.” The guitarist said the group had always considered DMX the “metalhead of hip-hop” because of the rapper’s “aggressive, raw, and untamed” style.
“He growled and snarled, aiming to rattle some cages–an attitude we share, as Five Finger Death Punch has always been drawn to the fearless and the real,” he said. “It made all the sense in the world, but today this is more than just a song; it’s a salute to a legend, a way to honor DMX’s memory.” DMX died in April 2021 at age 50 after experiencing a heart attack triggerd by a drug overdose.
The digital deluxe edition also features three acoustic versions of the album tracks “The End,” “Judgement Day” and “Thanks For Asking.” FFDP will tour Europe this summer on a headlining tour featuring Ice Nine Kills before joining Metallica as the opening act on a run of the rock icons’ European stadium shows.
Watch the “This Is the Way” video below.
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During her visit to the Tamron Hall Show on Wednesday, Memphis MC GloRilla reflected on her mind-blowing visit to the White House in March, where she met President Biden and VP Kamala Harris. But host Hall had one more special moment to share during the segment, when she played a video from Glo’s dad, who […]
Two decades in any industry is worth celebrating, but Dynamicduo has not only persisted through the early, nascent days of Korea’s hip-hop scene but has also hit new creative and mainstream peaks ahead of reaching the 20-year milestone.
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Since childhood friends Choiza and Gaeko officially paired up in 2004 with debut album Taxi Driver, the pair have trailblazed their legacy after setting records for hip-hop sales in Korea, taking top honors at mainstream awards shows in music and videos, establishing their Amoeba Culture label, and collaborating with a range of stars through the decades like DJ Premier, J.Y. Park, Tiger JK, BoA, Rain, Wonder Girls and members of K-pop groups like BTS, EXO and Monsta X.
Dyanmicduo’s three-part album, 2 Kids on the Block, officially wrapped its 10-month rollout with the release of Part.3 on March 28, with the new tracks documenting two decades of inner dialogues and growth to ultimately decide to set their sights even higher by the LP’s conclusion. Parallel to the record’s past-meets-present concept, Dynamicduo experienced balancing an old and new track, both taking over on social media for a minute in 2023. Their 2014 single “AEAO” featuring DJ Premier” went unexpectedly viral on TikTok (landing itself as one of TikTok’s Top 10 Song of Summer from South Korea), while their collaboration cut “Smoke” with rising rapper Lee Young Ji for a popular TV dance competition also took off via dance challenges, earning the guys their first-ever entry on the Billboard Global 200 chart. Helping fuel DD’s 2023 hits were infectious dance and lip-sync covers from K-pop heavyweights like V and Jung Kook of BTS, Minho, EXO, SEVENTEEN, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ITZY, ATEEZ and IVE, as well as stars across the J-pop and Korean hip-hop scenes.
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A day after the release of 2 Kids on the Block — Dynamicduo’s milestone 10th album together — was the unveiling of J-Hope from BTS’ latest solo project, Hope on the Street Vol. 1, featuring Gaeko on the lead single “NEURON.” Alongside this J-Hope collaboration, the slew of rising and established names in Korean pop, R&B, rap and even acting on 2 Kids all point to Dynamicduo’s continued influence and expert ability to navigate different musical realms for decades.
Speaking exclusively with Billboard, Dynamicduo reflect on their journey thus far, share their ambitious vision for the next decade, discuss differences between their BTS collaborations and more.
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Congratulations on the release of 2 Kids on the Block – Part.3. How does it feel now that the series is complete? With five full tracks, Part.3 is the longest chapter in the 2 Kids on the Block series. Was there a reason for breaking out the parts like you did?
Gaeko: We feel so happy to be able to release the album on our 20th anniversary. The timing was perfect.
Choiza: Our CEO, who had been with us since the establishment of our company, suddenly passed away as her condition worsened, and while she was here, she really liked the songs that we were working on from the tenth album. So we wanted to gift the release to her while she was still here with us. And the current state of the music market makes it impossible for people to listen to all the songs in an album. Even if we released all the songs at once, only one to two songs would have stood out, so we thought dividing it into parts would have people listen through all the songs. Lastly, this album expresses stories and the history of Dynamicduo, so we released it in several parts to sequentially tell different stages of our lives from past to present.
You also released a remix package for “AEAO” with DJ Premier and “Smoke” for Street Woman Fighter 2, both viral hits, in between parts. Was there a balance you had to find with these singles and returning to the album?
Gaeko: Apart from the hits of the two singles, we tried to refocus on maintaining the album’s concept and improving its level of completion. We took a short break, about two weeks, at the beginning of the year to refresh our minds and then got back to the grind.
Choiza: Actually, 2 Kids On The Block – Part.3 was originally going to be released as three songs last year, but “Smoke” became such a huge hit, so we couldn’t complete the album at that time. But, thanks to that, we were able to prepare five songs instead of three with the extra time we were given, and we are satisfied with how it turned out. The additional two songs that we added fit right in with the concept of the album.
Your new single, “PITAPA” featuring pH-1 and Junny, is really impressive. What inspired the theme of “pizza, tacos and pasta” and what do you hope listeners will take away?
Choiza: “PITAPA” is a song that resembles the aspiration of wanting our music to be appealing to people all over the world and to be known in such a way as pizza, taco, and pasta are as global foods familiar to everyone around the world. pH-1 and JUNNY are well-received in both Korea and overseas, so having them on the track added extra flavor and we think overseas listeners who like Korean hip-hop will have fun listening to it.
Gaeko: We felt that the words “pizza, taco, pasta” connected well and the line just stuck to our mouth. We felt the groove and loved the sound of it, so we were able to make the hook right away. “PITAPA” was the last song we worked on on the album, and it was completed quickly with the inspiration we got from our U.S. performance that we had just gotten back from.
Personally, I hear some DJ Premier influence on the production of “PITAPA.” Did his work inspire you or parts of this album after the resurgence of “AEAO”?
Choiza: “AEAO” is a song that gave us the courage to pursue overseas activities. We worked with an amazing artist, DJ Premier, and when the song resurged on TikTok, it helped bring in a wider audience, giving them exposure to who we are and our songs. The resurgence encouraged us to think that we have the potential to do something overseas and that the idea of rapping and singing in Korean would still appeal to the foreign market. “AEAO” gave us tremendous inspiration.
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BewhY gives props to Dynamicduo as inspiration for his career on the album track “Love Myself.” This LP has many rising rap and R&B stars. Do you have humbling moments like this where you realize your influence?
Choiza: We are very grateful that young artists are inspired by us and how long we’ve been doing this. We think one of the reasons we’ve been able to make music for so long is that we get a lot of help and learn a lot from working with new artists. We want to continue working hard and creating good music together.
Actor Jung Man Sik does the intro on “Dramatic,” which was very clever. How did he end up on the album?
Gaeko: When we got Man Sik’s part added to the song, it felt like we found the missing piece to the puzzle. We contacted him last minute, like two days before our scheduled mix session. We had nobody else in mind other than Man Sik and, luckily, it was his day off that day, and he understood exactly what we wanted and acted so quickly on it. He completed our puzzle and we want to thank him again.
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Gaeko, you collaborated with J-Hope of BTS on “NEURON” from Hope on the Street Vol. 1 album. Since J-Hope is enlisted and cannot share much about the song, can you tell us about how the track came together?
Gaeko: J-Hope came to my studio last year and we not only talked about music, but also talked about many different things in life — it was such a fun time and I felt his deep passion for music and dance. I think his energy transferred over to me because I was able to write the lyrics quickly. We recorded our verses separately, and I went over to HYBE and we recorded the hook together. It was a fun project.
All three verses on “NEURON” express a strong sense of positivity and gratitude. Can you share how you approached your verse? Did you hear J-Hope and Yoon Mirae’s verses, or was it all a surprise when the album came out?
Gaeko: It wasn’t until after 20 years of making music that I began to understand that good things come out only when you relax and empty yourself. I wanted to capture those emotions in the verse, and I also tried to make the overall structure of the verse simple and plain. J-Hope’s verse was already completed before I did my part, and I listened to Tasha (yoonmirae)’s verse after it was mixed. Their parts were so good so I had second thoughts on recording my part again, but I decided not to. If I did it again, I wouldn’t have been able to capture the same emotions from the initial recording, so I left it as is.
RM featured on Gaeko’s single, “Gajah” from 2017. How do the collaboration experiences and recording processes differ between RM and J-Hope?
Gaeko: I felt that the musical direction they were both pursuing was similar yet different. I felt that RM had a deep affection, understanding, and love not only for hip-hop but also for music itself. And J-Hope had a massive passion for hip-hop and dance and wanted to pour all his energy into them before enlisting into the army. I also received a lot of energy from those two.
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As Dynamicduo celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2024, how do you look back on the 20 yeras? Do you have anything special planned to celebrate this year?
Gaeko: Looking back now, we think that we were meant to do music. There were times when we experienced challenges, joy, and frustration, but the fact that the two of us were together in all those moments is probably the biggest accomplishment of our career.
Choiza: [The] 20th anniversary isn’t any special to us because we want to work just as hard as we’ve been and treat it like all our previous years. However, we will be holding a concert at the end of the year for our 20th anniversary and we want to make it big — we will be working hard and preparing a show for all to enjoy.
Collaboration has been a significant aspect of your career and we see it in 2 Kids. Whether it’s with fellow artists or producers, how do you approach collaborations to make them successful? Is there anyone still on your bucket list?
Choiza: We enjoy working together, but there are also a lot of new things that we discover when working with other artists. It’s fun to work with famous artists, but we also want to collaborate with rising, up-and-coming artists because we have a lot to learn from each other as well.
We think it would also be fun to mix various languages into one song. We are currently working with Thai rapper F.HERO, and we hope to work with artists from the U.S., Japan, Southeast Asia, and other parts of the world.
While K-pop impacts globally, Korean hip-hop and R&B are also rising. Do you have any thoughts—or hopes—of what it will take for these genres and artists to be more noticed internationally looking forward?
Gaeko: It’s important to make an effort to create the best work in whichever area we work in and to respect each other. We try not to set any high expectations for the results and just do our best in our field.
Choiza: Our goal is to be good at making music and to do it for a long time, so we’ll do our best to keep this going. We ask for your continued interest, and I believe that our overseas listeners will find songs that suit their tastes when they listen to all our songs that have been released so far. Please check out our 10th album as well as all our previous ones. We feel so grateful and honored to take part in this interview. Thank you for having us!
Metro Boomin is taking his show on the road to Egypt later this month. On Tuesday, the “Young Metro” rapper announced that he has booked a gig at the Great Pyramids complex in Giza, Egypt on April 30. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “In other news […]
Beyoncé is rustling up all her cowboys and kindly asking them to hit the dancefloor for a new remix of her Cowboy Carter single “Texas Hold ‘Em.” The track gets a fresh bounce as well as a new verse and breakdown in a “Pony Up” remix of the song that topped the Billboard Hot 100 […]
Offset bluntly shut down persistent rumors of an alleged beef with his Migos bandmate Quavo on Tuesday when he posted a brief, but loving message to Q on his 33rd birthday. HipHopDX posted a screenshot of an Instagram Story from Offset in which he wrote, “Happy gday my brother @quavohuncho love you 4L [for life].” […]
Cash Cobain has NYC on fire right now. The Bronx rapper/producer’s song “Fisherrr” has gone viral with everyone doing its signature dance, The Reemski. However, virality can bring with it some unfortunate consequences. His highly anticipated hometown show at the infamous Irving Plaza set for Monday night was shut down before it got started as […]
